Front Cover
by Lady Emily
Summary: Vanessa and Nancy go undercover as the girlfriends of a pair of young inventors to catch a saboteur in New York City. But in finding the criminal, will they lose their hearts? Huh... I actually updated!
1. A New Case

A/N: Hey guys, I'm back with a new story! It serves as a sequel to _La Muerta Mystery_, but you don't need to read LMM to get this one. Just so you know, Nancy and Vanessa will be the major characters in this one, in the beginning at least. Joe and Frank are in it too, but you won't see them until sometime in chapter 4... Also, it's up a little sooner than I thought it would be, mainly because I'm going to a **Billy Joel concert** tomorrow night and won't have time to update then! (I'm so excited : P) Anyway, please read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone from the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew universes, and I'm writing this for fun and not profit.

* * *

"Hello?" 

"Hey, Vanessa, it's Nancy."

Vanessa Bender smiled into the phone at the sound of her friend's voice. "Hey, girl, what's up?"

On the other end of the line, Nancy Drew laughed, then paused before saying, "Actually, it's business. Sort of."

"Are you on another case?" Vanessa asked. Just last week she and Nancy had been on vacation in South Carolina solving a case with Frank and Joe Hardy which had involved her getting kidnapped and Nancy nearly having to rob a museum.

"That's right." Nancy said slowly. "And I need help. I was wondering if you were up for one more mind-numbingly dangerous adventure before the summer ends?"

Vanessa chuckled weakly, not sure if Nancy was joking or not. "I'm up for anything." she answered. "But why ask me and not Frank or Joe?" After all, she had only met Nancy through her boyfriend, Joe Hardy, and his brother, Frank.

Nancy snorted. "Much as I'd love to call in the Hardys, I really need a girl for this assignment. Normally, I'd ask George or Bess before dragging you into this, but Bess just got a job and George has a pretty bad ankle sprain..."

"So I'm a last resort?" Vanessa said, pretending to be offended.

"No, no, it's not that at all." Nancy said. "It's just that I was reluctant to ask you to do something like this. I don't know how Joe feels about you investigating, but-"

"Oh, please." Vanessa scoffed. "First of all, Joe doesn't own me. And second, he'd be cool about it." She was intrigued now- had Nancy stumbled on a case the Hardys couldn't help with? "So what's this case about?"

"Okay, here goes:" Nancy started. "I was called from New York yesterday by Peter and Chase Long."

"Long? Aren't those the computer guys? Brothers?"

"Right." Nancy said. "They've really built up a good reputation in the computer world, even though they're so young. They're planning to unveil their latest piece of technology soon and their plan is to start their own company if it's a success."

"But...?" Vanessa prompted.

"But they're worried about the confidentiality of the new product. Apparently they've been experiencing some problems that sound to me like sabotage- thievery, warning notes and the like. They're in the public eye constantly but they don't want the press to learn about the sabotage because they're worried for the future of the company."

"So they just want us to go up there and check it out?" Vanessa asked.

"In so many words." Nancy said. "And we'd be going undercover: as their girlfriends."

Vanessa's eyes widened and she grinned. "Sounds exciting. But why girlfriends instead of just giving us fake jobs or internships or something? In fact, why not just hire bodyguards?"

Nancy was surprised at Vanessa's acceptance of this plan, but she explained, "One, they don't want to tempt the saboteurs to do something worse. Sometimes criminals will panic and do something drastic when hired bodyguards are brought in. And two, they don't want to alert the media that they are being targeted. Having a girlfriend as a constant companion is a lot less suspicious than, say, an intern or something."

"Ah..." Vanessa said. "So what's this new technology they're so eager to protect?"

"I don't know much about it yet." Nancy told her. "I do know it's some kind of revolutionary new lie detector... But we'll find out when we get there... If you can come, that is."

"I'm in." Vanessa said. "My mom's away visiting friends until next week, but I'll call her and let her know what's going on."

"Okay, great. Thanks, Vanessa." Nancy said. "Oh, and one more thing, we start tomorrow."

* * *

Vanessa leaned forward on her elbows as she and Nancy sat in the back seat of the taxi on their way through New York City. "Are they cute?" she said. "How old are they?"

Nancy laughed. "Peter is 24, Chase is 22." she answered. "And they are definitely hot." She had never seen Vanessa so agitated. "Calm down." she said. "You're worrying too much."

Vanessa sat back, but her foot still tapped impatiently as she attempted to obey Nancy's instructions. "Hey, speaking of hot guys," she said. "How are things going with you and Frank?" Nancy and Frank had both recently broken up with their significant others, Ned Nickerson and Callie Shaw, in favor of a tentative long-distance relationship with each other.

Nancy sighed. "All right, I guess." she said. "I miss him; haven't talked to him since the day after vacation... Maybe we're not cut out for the long-distance thing."

Vanessa didn't know what to say. Was the perfect couple having troubles so soon? Before she could make an attempt to reassure Nancy, the cab pulled to a stop at Central Park: the designated meeting spot for them and the Long brothers. Both girls stepped out of the cab and Nancy went around to get the bags from the trunk while Vanessa leaned though the window to pay the driver. At the last minute, a roll of bills was gallantly handed to the cab driver from behind her. Startled, Vanessa spun around, straight into the arms of a handsome young man. "Nessa!" he exclaimed happily, leaning down to give her a lingering kiss.

* * *

A/N: Okay, it's classic first-chapter short, but they get longer. Please review, because I value the opinions of all my readers!  



	2. Chase and Peter

A/N: Another shortish one. Hope you like it! Of course, thanks to all my fabulous reviewers: keep it up!

* * *

The cab driver chuckled and drove away. Vanessa pulled out of the man's embrace, stumbling backwards as she wiped at her mouth with her arm. The man reached out and took her arms to steady her. "Whoa, sorry about that." he said in a low voice. "I didn't mean to scare you. I'm Chase Long." 

"Oh." Vanessa said, embarrassed, as she looked up at the tall man in front of her. He was tall, a little taller than Joe, with sandy brown hair and bright green eyes. "Vanessa Bender." she said finally. She stuck her hand out and he shook it amusedly.

"That's my brother, Peter." Chase said, gesturing to a second man who was helping Nancy move the bags.

Peter was about the same height as his brother, with slightly longer, darker hair. He and Nancy left the bags on the sidewalk and approached Vanessa and Chase. "That's wasn't nice." he admonished his brother. As he talked, Vanessa noticed that under his tasteful wire-rimmed glasses, his eyes were a gorgeous shade of teal. "Don't worry, Chase doesn't sexually assault every girl he meets on the street."

"Only the really pretty ones." Chase said, winking at her.

Vanessa was flustered. "I... um..."

The brothers laughed. "It's okay, Vanessa, I'm just joking around. But I did think, under current circumstances, it would be best for us to act as much like couples as possible." Chase said.

"That's right." Peter added, smiling at Nancy. "After all, we did go to all the trouble of inventing a story about our loving girlfriends, straight from their freshman year at some obscure college halfway across the country..."

Nancy and Vanessa grinned at each other. Neither had expected the brains of an important technological breakthrough to be so charming and friendly.

"We thought we'd just take a walk." Chase said. "You know, get to know each other and talk about the case a bit. Central Park is nice because there's so many people around you rarely get noticed in the crowds."

"Plus no saboteur will make a move surrounded by dozens of people." Vanessa added.

"Or so we hope." Peter said.

Nancy nodded, but added, "What about our bags?" She gestured to the two medium-sized suitcases on the sidewalk.

"Oh," Peter said, looking a little embarrassed. "Jo will take care of it." As he spoke, an expensive-looking dark-colored car pulled into the spot the taxi had just vacated. "Speaking of..."

Vanessa started guiltily at the sound of her boyfriend's name, but she quickly realized who Peter was talking about. "A chauffeur?"

Chase nodded. "Sort of."

Both Nancy and Vanessa were surprised to see a girl step out of the driver's side of the car. "Hey, boys." she said cheerfully. She was pretty and slender, a little over five feet tall with shoulder-length brown hair and soulful chocolate eyes. She looked to be around 22 years old.

"Hey, Josie." Chase replied as she came around to the pavement. "Meet Nessa and Nancy. Girls, meet Josie Carpenter. She's a friend who just happens to work for us."

Josie smiled warmly at Vanessa as she extended her hand. "Nice to meet you, Nessa." Vanessa shook it, looking slightly amused by her new nickname. Josie shook with Nancy next, but Nancy noticed that her smile now looked forced, almost unhappy. Or was it a threatened look? Nancy wondered if she was being overly suspicious, but decided that she should keep an eye on Josie.

Josie spoke again. "I've heard all about you."

Surprised, Nancy cast a glance at Peter, who grinned. "Only the good things, I promise." Then, bending to whisper in her ear, he said, "We made some stuff up. She doesn't know you're detectives. We wanted to check with you before saying anything." He covered his actions with a quick kiss on the cheek.

Nancy blushed convincingly, as if he had whispered something intimate. "I hope so." she said, giving him a significant nod to let him know he'd done the right thing. Quickly changing the topic before Josie could ask any questions, she said, "What about you, Josie, do you go to school here?"

Josie nodded politely. "I'm in my third year at NYU. And it's pretty convenient, too. When I needed a job, my old pals Peter and Chase set me up."

"We were friends as kids." Peter explained. "Grew up together and all that."

Josie laughed. "And now I get paid to clean their apartment and take care of this baby." She patted the hood of the car fondly.

"Sweet gig." Vanessa commented.

"You got it." Josie replied. "And now I guess I'd better take care of these bags and get going, I'm sure you guys have... stuff to do." she said suggestively, winking at Chase. Vanessa blushed as Chase winked back.

"Here, I'll help you." Nancy offered, stooping to take one of the bags as Josie opened the trunk. "They're a little heavy."

"Don't." Josie said firmly as she took the bag from Nancy's hand. "I've got it." She took both bags at once and lifted them easily into the trunk. _I guess she's more qualified than she looks_, Nancy thought. She was mildly confused by Josie's tone of voice: it sounded almost like... a challenge. Before she could say anything else, Josie slammed the trunk shut and walked around to the driver's seat. "Your apartment?" she asked, gesturing to the bags in the trunk.

Peter nodded. "Yeah. And then you can get going. We'll find our own way home."

"Okay. Thanks." Josie said, getting into the car. "See you guys later."

"Thanks, Jose." Peter called as the car pulled away. Turning to Nancy, he offered her his arm. "And that, milady, is what about your bags. Shall we walk?"

Nancy tore her eyes away from the distancing car that held her first suspect. "Sure," she said, taking his arm and smiling. "Now what say you tell us a bit more about this case?"

* * *

A/N: I'll try to have the next update by Monday or Tuesday, but no guarantees... Please review! 


	3. Office Space

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and encouragement! I'm always glad to know you're enjoying it. And the action starts... now.

Disclaimer: (insert disclaimer here)

* * *

Nancy paid close attention as Peter and Chase outlined the suspicious misfortunes that had befallen them in the past few weeks, including missing computer equipment and a pair of threatening notes. Her notebook felt heavy in her purse; in any other case she would be taking down notes, but right now, not knowing who could be watching, she couldn't afford to look like anything but an enamored girlfriend.

"So, tell us what you've told people about us." Vanessa requested. "We want to have our stories straight..."

"Good idea." Peter nodded. "We tried to keep details to a minimum, but we have been talking about you to other people, you know, to establish a story."

"We started with your names." Chase said. "We thought it'd be easier for you to keep your first names, but we changed your last names so your families wouldn't get contacted by the press or anything, god forbid. So you're Vanessa Blyton and Nancy Laurence. Nessa and Nancy."

"Awesome." Nancy said. "Are you sure you guys haven't done any of this 'cloak-and-dagger' stuff before?" she teased. "Because you're doing everything right."

The boys laughed. "It's mostly just common sense." Peter said. Looking at Nancy, he said. "You're really eager to get started on this, aren't you?"

Nancy flushed. "Yeah, I am. I'm just like that."

"Hey, no, that's great." Chase said. "That's what you guys are here for."

"Not that we're not enjoying your company." Peter added mischievously. "But I think it's time to take you to the lab."

* * *

"Nice place you've got here." Nancy commented, looking around at the sheer vastness of the research facility building they had arrived at after a short twenty-minute walk.

"Thanks." Chase said proudly, as if the institute really belonged to him. "Best research facility in the city. In the state!"

"In your opinion." Peter finished teasingly.

They entered the large building together. Nancy noticed a security check in the front of the building requiring both brothers to show their IDs. "Are there other security measures?" she asked Peter after they had successfully passed the guards.

"Sure." Peter replied. He and Nancy had dropped back and were walking behind Vanessa and Chase now. "Each individual office has an alarm lock and a safe, and everyone keeps backup disks in a safe deposit box just in case."

Nancy nodded. This was good, but she had to say that it wasn't great. She didn't trust locks: she knew from experience how often they could be picked.

"We're almost at our office." Peter noted. "It's just around the corner here and down the hall- hey!"

A woman in a lab coat and surgical mask had rudely bumped against Vanessa as she turned the corner, sending Vanessa sprawling to the ground. "Why don't you watch where you're going?" she asked impatiently, pulling the mask down so it hung around her neck.

"Hey, lay off, Kate." Chase said.. "_You_ bumped into_ her,_ not the other way around." He extended a hand to help Vanessa up. "Are you okay?"

Vanessa took Chase's hand and nodded, getting up quickly and brushing herself off. "This your new girlfriend?" Kate said with a slight sneer.

"That's right." Chase said. "Kate, meet Vanessa. Nessa, Kate Osbourne, one of my colleagues."

"Pleasure." Vanessa said flatly, wondering why the woman was acting so mean.

Kate turned to Chase. "Sorry, but I was in a bit of a hurry. There was a chloroform spill in my lab." It was clear that her apology was directed at Chase and not Vanessa.

"Kate's researching the use of anesthetics on the human body." Chase explained to Vanessa.

"Oh," Vanessa said politely. "That sounds interesting..." Suddenly she sniffed the air. "Is something burning?"

Peter and Nancy had come up behind the group. "I smell it too." Peter said uneasily. Quickly he took off towards the source of the smell, and Chase, Nancy, Vanessa, and Kate followed. The group stopped in front of a door at the end of the hall. They could hear the crackling of flames inside.

"Our office!" Peter cried, yanking on the door handle and entering the room, followed closely by Chase. A cloud of smoke drifted out, making their eyes water. Blinking the tears out of the way, Peter stared in muted horror. The desks – his and Chase's- were on fire!

Suddenly the fire alarm started clanging. "Bit late for that!" Kate exclaimed. "Come on, we have to get out of here!" she grabbed Chase by the arm and pulled him out of the room. Peter, however, stayed floored to the spot, coughing violently.

"Out of the way!" Nancy shouted. Peter numbly stepped out of the room as she and Chase made their way in armed with fire extinguishers from the hallway. As they aimed the streams of foam at the flames, the fire subsided.

Vanessa stomped out the few remaining embers with her sneakers. Then, without warning, the fire sprinklers went on, drenching Chase, Nancy, and mostly, Vanessa with its freezing spray.

"What is going on here!" Chase yelled angrily, running over the the ruins of his desk and trying to shelter it from the water.

Nancy backed out of the office, out of the shower of freezing water and into Peter. "Seems like your sprinkler system's a little late too." she commented breathlessly.

Peter slid off his suit coat and slipped it around her shoulders in a chivalrous fashion, putting a friendly arm around the shivering girl. "That's not the problem." he groaned as the sprinklers shut off as abruptly as they had started. "It's just that the sprinklers were supposed to be disabled in here. Now anything that wasn't destroyed in the fire has been ruined by the water!" his arm slid away from her shoulders as he joined his brother and Vanessa in the middle of the room.

"I suppose there's no way this could have been an accident..." Vanessa said softly, pushing her dripping hair out of her face.

"Gee, the door was unlocked, the file cabinet was opened, the sprinklers were messed with... what do _you_ think?" Chase snapped at her. Immediately feeling sorry, he apologized, "I didn't mean to yell... it's just-" he gestured helplessly at his trashed office.

Vanessa shook her head forgivingly. "It's okay." she answered, teeth visibly chattering. "I understand." She folded her arms over her chest uncomfortably, casting a glance at Nancy, who was signaling at Kate standing at the door. Nancy obviously didn't want Kate to listen to this conversation.

Peter seemed to pick up on Nancy's signal as well. "Kate, do you think you could take Vanessa somewhere and get her dried off?" he asked.

Kate frowned at the dripping girl, but nodded anyway, making a 'follow-me' motion with her head, then turning on her heel and leading Vanessa out of the room. "Thanks." Nancy whispered to Vanessa on the way out.

"Thank _you._" Vanessa grinned through blue lips.

"You sure you or Chase don't want to get dried off too?" Kate called back at Nancy.

Nancy hugged Peter's jacket around her. "Vanessa got the worst of it. I'm not that cold, thanks." she lied. The moment Kate and Vanessa were out of earshot, she crossed the room to the desks. "Okay, so what happened here? What has been ruined?"

"Nothing irreplaceable." Peter said in a puzzled tone. "I mean, our computers are toasted, but they're backed-up."

"And whoever started this fire kindly opened our filing cabinet and set our business papers on fire..." Chase said angrily, gesturing to the open filing cabinets dripping with gray, ash-filled water. "They're always locked."

"But we have computer back-ups of those too." Peter added. "They were basically just records of business transactions and bank papers, that sort of thing. And, of course, that business we're going to start."

"Tell me about your business plan." Nancy said.

"Technology is constantly advancing." Chase said with a shrug. "The second a product is released, there are people working to improve on it. We have a pretty big market for our products. Of course, we've made more than enough money already to start a company, but we're using the release of our lie detector as publicity."

"Which is why it needs to go off without a hitch." Peter finished.

"Okay, I get it." Nancy said. "Who else knows that you're planning to announce the start of your own company after the release?"

"Everybody." Peter said. "It's common knowledge. The public knew before the sabotage started."

"Makes sense." Nancy commented. "Perhaps the saboteurs are people who don't want you to start your business. What companies would be most threatened if you started your own?"

Chase considered carefully. "Well, there's lots of competition in the computer world, but I think our biggest worry would be Stoneridge Industries. They currently make the best products on the market. Oh! And Silicaid Corp. They've been trying to hire us."

"Hmm." Nancy said. "That provides both of them with motives for sabotage. Can you think of anyone with a more _personal_ grudge?"

"Bert Rainier." Chase said immediately. "He's a grad student who works in this building too, and he'd been working on a lie detector using similar concepts as Pete and me. But ours turned out to be a lot more efficient... I think he's a little bitter about that."

"What about that Kate Osbourne?" Nancy asked carefully. "She seemed a little... frigid."

"It's possible, I guess." Peter said. "But not for professional reasons. It's just that she used to date Chase, and he kind of broke up with her pretty suddenly a few months back."

"Really?" Nancy said, surprised at this new twist. "Why? If you don't mind me asking, that is."

"Oh, it's fine," Chase said, sighing. "Kate and I had a nice thing going, but she's a really jealous person. The type of person who'd fly off the handle for practically no reason. We started fighting about her jealousy problem a lot, and then I just couldn't take it any more, so I broke it off. I wouldn't say it was 'sudden'."

"Do you think she'd try to sabotage your career to get back at you for dumping her?" Nancy asked.

"I really don't know." Chase replied uneasily. "I mean, I'd like to think not. That seems a little extreme for her. She's not really a bad person."

"Who isn't?" Vanessa asked, coming back into the room. She wore a dry t-shirt, and her hair was no longer dripping, although it was still plenty damp.

"Kate." Chase replied, smiling at her.

"Right." Vanessa said, smiling back. "And speaking of Kate, she called the fire department about the fire and asked if they could bring someone in to determine the cause."

"Good idea." Nancy said.

"Yeah." Vanessa said. "And they're here now, so we have to clear out and give them room to work."

"Cool." Peter said. "It's been a long few hours anyway. It won't hurt to take you girls to get settled in at home. They can always call us with the results."

"I was just about to suggest that." Chase replied. Eying Vanessa, he said, "It's pretty cloudy out there. Isn't it a little chilly to be going outside in just a t-shirt?"

"Says the guy in the sopping-wet business suit." Vanessa laughed. "But yeah, Kate went to rustle me up a jacket to wear."

"Great." Chase said. He led the other three down to the lobby of the building, where they met Kate, who was talking to several firefighters. They stopped talking as the Longs and their "girlfriends" approached.

Kate extended a navy-blue cardigan to Vanessa. "It's not this season's hottest fashion," she said. "But it should keep you from freezing to death before you get home."

"Thanks." Vanessa said, pulling on the sweater. It felt a little damp, but she wasn't complaining!

Nancy and Peter were describing the fire to the firemen, who promised to investigate and let them know of any findings as soon as possible. After saying goodbye to Kate and the firemen, and waving at the security guards on the way out of the building, Peter said to Nancy, "You know, we never did get to show you the lie detector."

Nancy laughed. "You're right... Oh, well, there's always tomorrow."

Up in front of them, Vanessa and Chase walked side-by-side. "Sorry about the drenching." Chase grinned. "Stuff like this doesn't usually happen to me."

"It does to me!" Vanessa assured him, thinking of Joe for the first time in hours. Life with him was never dull...

Without warning, a man popped up from behind one of the dense bushes that lined the path. He was holding a camera, and the flash lit up brightly, nearly blinding Vanessa. Chase shouted something angrily, but Vanessa could barely make out what he was saying. In a matter of seconds, an overwhelming feeling of heaviness came over her and spots swam nauseatingly before her eyes. The phantom photographer snapped picture after picture as Vanessa crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

* * *

A/N: Long chapter + Sooner than expected You can pay me in reviews (sorry, no cash or C.O.D.s). Lol. But I'm not kidding. Seriously, review! 


	4. KOed

A/N: Yes, the Hardys will make their first appearance in this chapter... and they'll be here from here on in. ; D Just a note to anyone who's interested, I've nearly finished a Nancy/Joe oneshot that I'm a little leery on posting... (Any form of encouragement would be greatly appreciated...)

A/N: Man, you have no idea how long it took me to upload this thing- I've been trying for three days now! Thanks to all my reviewers: keep it up guys! Well, you know how it goes: here's chapter four!

Disclaimer: Not mine.

* * *

"Nessa!" Chase shouted, reaching out to catch the fallen girl. He managed to reach her just in time to stop her head from hitting the ground, then knelt down and cautiously lowered her head into his lap. 

Meanwhile, Nancy and Peter sprang into action. Peter quickly dispatched the photographer with a scathing threat and Nancy crouched at her friend's side, checking her pulse. It was strong, if a little slower than normal. "Van!" she called softly. "Vanessa! Can you hear me?" She leaned in to check Vanessa's breathing and caught a whiff of a familiar, sickly-sweet smell. She sniffed again. "Is that-?"

"Chloroform." Chase finished grimly. "I smell it too. But why-?"

Nancy traced the smell to a small wet patch on the front of the cardigan Kate had lent Vanessa. The dark blue color of the sweater made the patch almost invisible. "It's the sweater!" she told Chase tensely. "Let's get it off her."

Chase nodded and held Vanessa in a sitting position while Nancy and Peter worked her arms out of the sleeves. As soon as the cardigan was removed, he carried her back into the building and laid her on the couch in the lobby. "Get Kate Osbourne down here now!" he told the receptionist harshly. Nodding meekly, the woman made a call to Kate's lab.

On the couch, Vanessa stirred and groaned. "What happened?" she rasped.

Nancy stroked the ash-blonde hair out of her friend's face. "You were chloroformed. How do you feel?"

"I was _what_?" Vanessa asked. The term sounded familiar, but her head was pounding and she couldn't place it.

"Chloroformed." Peter repeated. "It's an aerial sedative-"

"Dumb it down for me." Vanessa requested tiredly, reaching up to pinch the bridge of her nose.

Nancy laughed. "It's a knock-out drug." she said, glad to see that Vanessa had retained her sense of humor. That meant she couldn't be too badly hurt.

"Kate Osbourne's got a chemical cleanup team in her lab right now." the receptionist spoke up hesitantly. "She says she'll be right down when they're done. She said it'll only be twenty minutes or so."

Chase stifled a curse. "It had to be her, right? She was working with chloroform, she gave Ness the sweater, and of course she just happens to be my jealous ex-girlfriend..."

This was news to Vanessa, but she couldn't care less at the moment; the pain behind her eyeballs was too distracting. "Guys, I'm sorry, but I feel terrible. Could we possibly confront Kate tomorrow?" Her head ached so badly she sort of hoped she would lose consciousness again.

"Hey, no problem, Nessa." Chase said kindly. "I'll get a cab right now and we'll get you back to the apartment."

Nancy spoke up. "You think it would be okay if I stay here?" she asked. "If Kate is behind this, I don't want to give her a chance to flee the country or anything." she finished with a half-smirk.

"Good point." Peter said, smiling at Nancy. "I'll stay with you."

"Thanks." Nancy said as Chase helped Vanessa out to the cab.

A few minutes later, Kate appeared in the lobby. Peter angrily shook the sweater in her face. "What is the meaning of this?" he asked grimly.

Kate's expression was puzzled. "The meaning of what? What are you talking about, Peter? And where's Chase and his girlfriend?"

"He took her home." Peter replied acidly. "She wasn't feeling well."

Nancy stepped up and pointed to the patch of chloroform on the sweater. "Why did you give Vanessa a sweater with chloroform on it?" she asked bluntly, hoping to catch Kate off-guard.

"What! I-" Kate stuttered, eyes wide. She bent to examine the substance. "Well... that _is_ chloroform... but I didn't mean to... oh, I'm so sorry!"

"I assume you have a good explanation for this?" Peter asked.

Kate had a guilty look on her face. "Well, I just got finished cleaning up that chloroform spill in my lab... that was what I was about to do when I bumped into you before the fire. I had this cardigan hanging on a hook by the door and when I needed a jacket for Vanessa, I just grabbed the first thing I had lying around. I guess I just assumed it was far enough from my lab table that it was clean, but apparently it got a little splashed... I feel horrible."

Her explanation was so sincere that Nancy wanted to believe her, but Kate could just be a good actress. She really did look like she felt bad, but that was a little suspicious considering how Kate had seemed to dislike Vanessa from the moment they met... And that sweater was more than just 'a little splashed'. Nancy sighed; she would watch out for Kate, but for now she'd give her the benefit of the doubt.

"Is there anything I can do?" Kate asked tritely.

Nancy and Peter looked at each other before shaking their heads no. "We'll let you get back to work, Kate." Peter said. "Sorry for jumping down your throat."

"No problem." Kate said, a hint of her old smirk returning. "Tell Nessa I hope she's okay." She turned briskly and walked out of the lobby.

It wasn't until they were out of the building and several streets away that Nancy groaned and said, "We forgot to ask her about the photographer!"

Peter shrugged. "That's not much of a mystery. There's always photographers hanging around in New York City: tabloid guys looking for celebrities, free-lancers hoping to make a quick buck selling pictures to the papers..."

"Maybe you're right." Nancy said. She wasn't sure if it was a coincidence or not, but she wasn't going to let the incident go just yet...

"Hey..." Peter said suddenly. "I realize this is a working vacation and everything, but, do you want to do something fun?" He paused in a way that made her think he honestly wanted her to accept his offer.

Even behind the glasses, Nancy couldn't mistake the mischievous glint in his aqua eyes. She had to admit she was curious about Peter, everything about him, and she wondered if she was a bad person to want to go with him... But she knew a large part of building her cover was to see and be seen. "Yes." she said truthfully. "I do."

* * *

"Wow." Vanessa said, gaping up at the huge apartment building in front of her. "You live _here_?"

Chase grinned. "You bet. Top floor."

"Penthouse..." Vanessa commented. "Nice." Her headache had already started to lessen.

Chase laughed and nodded to the doorman as he led Vanessa into the building. The doorman winked at her. "Enjoy your stay."

Vanessa frowned inwardly as Chase took her hand to help her up the steps into the lobby and kept holding it. Their hands stayed clasped as they got into the elevator and rose to the top floor, and it made Vanessa feel vaguely uncomfortable. She had only met Chase this morning, and she certainly liked him already, but she still felt guilty holding hands with someone who wasn't Joe. Somehow it bothered her that everyone who saw her with Chase thought they were together... And the way Chase had kissed her when she got out of the taxi, even as a joke... her cheeks burned just thinking about it. She wondered if Chase was actually developing feelings for her, or if he was simply playing the part.

They got out of the elevator and found themselves in a small vestibule. Just as Chase dropped her hand to punch in a sequence on a number lock next to the apartment door, Vanessa blurted, "I have a boyfriend."

Chase entered the last number and the light turned green. He turned the handle on the door and pushed it in, holding it open for Vanessa to go in first. "I figured you might." he said noncommittally. He flipped on the light switch and led Vanessa into the kitchen. "Do you want some Advil or something?"

"I'd... I'd better not." she answered, blushing under his gaze. "Could I just lie down somewhere?"

"Yeah." Chase said, showing her into the guest bedroom. Her bag was already inside. She sat on the bed and he winked at her. "Normally I'd have you sleep in my room, but your boyfriend might not like that..."

Vanessa just stared at him unhappily, unable to tell if he was being facetious or not. She hadn't meant to make things so awkward, she'd just wanted Chase to know she was already attached before he got any ideas... heck, _she'd _been having ideas...

"Relax, I'm kidding." he said, leaning on her door frame in an uncertain fashion. "Listen, Nessa, I'm sorry if this whole thing with me makes you uncomfortable. I know we don't know each other very well, and that you're only here to help me out, and I shouldn't be making jokes like that..." he trailed off with a hopeful grin that would definitely have made Vanessa shiver if she wasn't already in love with Joe. "Forgive me?"

Vanessa put on a mock stern face. "I suppose... as long as you promise not to put the moves on me!"

"Who, me?" Chase said, eyes widened in a look of pure innocence. "I wouldn't dream of it." Then, more seriously, he added, "You seem like a great girl, Nessa, but I don't want to be anything more than friends either."

Vanessa nodded. "So we're cool." Chase grinned in response. Vanessa sighed with relief. "You know, you remind me a lot of my boyfriend, Joe. I think that's why we get along so well." she admitted.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Chase said, entering the room and taking a seat on a chair near the bed.

"Yeah..." Vanessa said, a little embarrassed that she'd said that. "Chase, do you mind if I ask you something? Why is it that a guy as nice as you doesn't have a girlfriend? You'd think they'd be lining up! I mean, you have everything: looks, brains, a sense of humor..."

"Money." Chase finished, a little bitterly. "Oh, they're lining up all right. Same goes for Pete. It's just hard to know which ones are only looking at how well off we are, you know?"

"Oh." Vanessa said, feeling stupid for not having thought of that and left without anything to say.

Chase stood up, his friendly countenance returning. "I guess you want to get some sleep." he said. "I'll leave you alone." he flicked off the light and left, closing the door behind him.

"Thanks." Vanessa whispered, before lowering her aching head to the cool pillows and drifting off.

* * *

**The Next Day**

Miles away in Bayport, Joe Hardy slammed down the phone in frustration. "Where _is_ she?"

"Where's who?" his brother Frank said, walking into the kitchen.

"Vanessa." Joe answered. "I haven't heard from her in three days. When I call her house, no one picks up!"

"Maybe she skipped town." Frank joked. Joe didn't laugh. With a sigh, Frank pulled out the chair across from Joe's and took a seat. "Did you try her friends?" he suggested. "Her mom's out of town, right? Maybe she went to stay with Callie for a few days or something."

Joe perked up. "Maybe you're right." Callie Shaw, Frank's ex-girlfriend, was one of Vanessa's best friends. "I'll try calling there." He returned a few minutes later, looking even more dejected than before. "Callie says she hasn't talked to her at all in the past four days."

Frank looked at his brother, who was pacing nervously. He knew why Joe was so uptight about Vanessa all of the sudden: she had been kidnapped during the last case they were on and Joe had been frantic. After losing the first girl he'd ever loved to a car bomb, Joe had always been worried about the repercussions of his detective work on the people he loved, and the thoughts of Vanessa's close call were still fresh in his mind. "Hey, Joe, why don't you take a drive out to her house? Maybe she's working on one of her animation projects or something. You know how she gets, not picking up the phone and all..."

"Good idea." Joe snatched the keys to the van off of the hook next to the door. He hoped Frank's scenario was true, that Vanessa really had just lost track of time, but he doubted it. He worried about her, out in that house all alone. And it didn't help his nerves that it was in the middle of nowhere. Vanessa and her mother lived in an old farmhouse just outside of Bayport, with no neighbors to hear or help if there was trouble.

All he could do was hope she had a good reason for not picking up the phone, instead of the horrific what-ifs he was imagining: she had passed out, she was hurt, she'd been kidnapped... they'd all happened before...

Joe was driving way over the speed limit by the time he got to Vanessa's street. He pulled to a sudden stop in her driveway and parked, jumping out of the car and knocking on the front door of her house. _Please be home._ Nobody came to the door. Joe banged on the door louder, each thump echoing through the empty area. The house was silent. Joe tried the doorknob. It was locked.

Joe vaguely wondered when Vanessa would get a cell phone as he stooped to retrieve the spare house key the Benders kept behind a loose brick in the front of the house. He unlocked the door quickly and returned the key, then took a tentative step into the darkened house. "Vanessa!" he called. Heart beating loudly, he did a quick once-over of the house, looking for Vanessa or any sign of trouble, but found nothing. He jumped as the house phone rang, then answered it after a pause. "Hello?" He let out a breath as he heard his brother's voice on the other end of the line. "She's not here, Frank."

"I know. I think you should get back here."

There was a tenseness in Frank's voice that alarmed Joe. "What? Why?" he asked.

"I think I found her." Frank replied.

Joe had no way of knowing, but Frank was holding the society page of that morning's newspaper.

* * *

A/N: Yes, yes, I know: poor Joe, being so worried while his girlfriend's off galavanting around NYC... Anyway, honest opinions appreciated- can't wait to hear from you... 


	5. Lie Detector

Disclaimer: No one you recognize is mine.

A/N: Thanks, as always, to my reviewers. Also to the administrators of my school, who saw fit to call a snow day today even though it is not snowing and is barely raining, thereby allowing me to finish this chapter. This has been the best rain day ever!

* * *

"I just don't understand it." Frank admitted, shaking his head.

Joe was staring at the newspaper in shock. The society section of the Bayport Gazette often held celebrity pictures from New York City, but Joe had never expected to see Vanessa in one... and unconscious to top it off! He hardy believed it, but there was no mistake. He would know that girl anywhere. "Oh my god." was all he could say. He read the short caption under the small photo. "'Nessa Blyton, girlfriend of young NYC inventor Chase Long, passed out yesterday outside Smithson Research Institute in Lower Manhattan (pictured here.) Her condition is not known, nor is the cause, although it is suspected to be linked to the mysterious office fire that occurred just minutes before her collapse.'"

"It can't be her." Frank said studying the picture closely. "Can it?"

"Come on, Frank." Joe replied. "It looks just like her, her name is "Nessa", and _my_ Vanessa just happens to be missing. Oh, and she's passing out into some other guy's arms after a suspicious fire. This has _my life_ written all over it."

Frank studied the picture. "Maybe you're right. But we can't verify it unt-"

"Like hell we can't!" Joe cried. "We have to go up there. She's obviously gotten herself into something, and it looks like trouble. And she's hurt, Frank..." his blue eyes pleaded with his responsible older brother.

"You know she can handle herself..." Frank protested weakly, but, in truth, he had the same bad feeling Joe did. He sighed. "Okay, little brother. Looks like we're going to New York City."

Joe nodded. "You wanna go start packing a duffel and I'll call Mom and Dad and tell them where we're going?"

Frank nodded and started upstairs. "I'm on it."

As he picked up the phone, Joe shot one last look at the newspaper article and said under his breath, "What do they mean, 'girlfriend'?" He shook his head; he did not like this one bit.

* * *

Nancy woke up the next morning early; she had never slept well in strange beds. She quickly put on a pair of jeans and a sweater and cautiously made her way out into the kitchen of the apartment. Did she smell coffee? She rounded the corner and was mildly startled to see Josie in the kitchen, before reminding herself that Josie worked here.

But when Josie turned and saw Nancy, she jumped about a foot in the air. Recovering quickly, she offered Nancy a cup of coffee which was gratefully accepted. As Josie poured it, Nancy searched her mind for a motive for Josie to sabotage the Longs; her being the culprit would certainly explain why she was acting so jumpy!

Josie handed her the coffee and began bustling about the apartment, making no further attempts at conversation while Nancy sipped the hot liquid thoughtfully. She couldn't think of any reason for Josie to want to ruin Peter and Chase, after all, they were old friends, and they were doing her a favor!

Suddenly a pair of arms slid around her waist from behind and she gasped before realizing that it was only Peter. "Good morning, Nancy." he yawned. "Sleep well?"

"Great." Nancy fibbed smilingly, but her smile faded as Peter leaned down to plant a kiss on her neck, making her traitorous body shiver.

Her thoughts traveled back to last night. She and Peter had made a game of visiting his favorite places in New York City, from the hopelessly touristy wax museum to a little café he swore was unknown to anyone who lived outside of his block. They had been up to the top of the Empire State Building somewhere in between, and Peter had joked about how "math geeks" like himself didn't go there to see the view, but to calculate how much sway the top of the building needed to be architecturally stable or how fast a penny would be going by the time it hit the sidewalk. Then they'd bought pretzels from street vendors and wandered along the sidewalks past the people selling 'I Love NY' t-shirts and twenty dollar "Rolex" watches.

He probably thought her to be a complete tourist, but she had loved every minute of it. And what was worse was the physical attraction she felt growing between them. How was she supposed to focus on her case if she was too busy falling for her client?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Vanessa in the kitchen, followed closely by Josie. Peter and Nancy jumped apart quickly and Peter cleared his throat embarrassedly while Nancy blushed. Vanessa shot Nancy a questioning look, which she ignored in favor of saying, "Van! How are you feeling?"

"Great." Vanessa said. "All that sleep seemed to do the trick. So what are we doing today?" She was curious about where Nancy and Peter had gone last night but didn't want to ask in front of everyone.

"I guessed we'd go back to the research institute." Nancy said. "After all, we never did get to see this lie detector of theirs." she didn't want to say any more in front of Josie; if she was a suspect it wasn't safe for her to know that Nancy and Vanessa were really detectives.

"Hey, Pete." Josie said, her voice slightly higher than usual. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure." With a last look at Nancy, he followed Josie out of the room. "I'll be back in a sec."

Vanessa immediately sidled up to Nancy. "So...?"

"So what?" Nancy shrugged.

Vanessa frowned, realizing that as much as she wanted to hear about Peter, Nancy didn't want to talk about him.

Nancy was saved from the situation when Chase came in and tiredly poured himself some coffee. "Hey, girls."

Vanessa smiled at him genially. "Good morning." Nancy nodded in acknowledgment.

Peter reentered the room without Josie. He looked slightly troubled, and Nancy wondered what Josie had said to him. She resolved to ask him later. "Ready to hit the road?" Peter asked, looking around. "Public transportation awaits."

* * *

Forty minutes later the group was back at the research institute. Peter and the girls waited in the lobby while Chase called the fire department to get the results of the investigation on the office. "They suspect arson." he said grimly when he returned. "There was nothing wrong with our electronics or the wiring in the building, and they found a melted pair of those cheap cigarette lighters. Since neither Pete nor I smoke, they're pretty sure that's what the arsonist used."

Nancy nodded. Truthfully, she had expected as much. "And since the lighters are cheap and they're everywhere, it's impossible to trace who they belonged to."

"And there won't be any fingerprints on the melted plastic." Vanessa added.

"So we're back to square one?" Peter asked.

"Not quite." Nancy said. "There's still he problem of the sprinkler system going on. Are you sure it's always turned off?"

"In our office, yes." Chase answered. "They keep the fire sprinklers on in the chemical labs and places where their's a lot of flammable material, but not in the offices where the water could just spray the computers and make the problem worse."

"So who has access to the sprinkler controls?" Vanessa asked, anticipating Nancy's next question. She hadn't dated a detective all these months for nothing!

Peter shrugged. "Pretty much all the scientists in the building. We come and go in the basement as we please."

"So anyone who works here or their guests can go down and change the controls?" Vanessa asked skeptically.

"Sorry, Nessa." Chase said, pursing his lips. "We've never had a security problem until now."

"Is there a way we could figure out who was down there yesterday?" Nancy asked.

"I doubt it." Peter answered. "There's no guard down there or anything, so unless someone saw someone else..."

"I see." Nancy said. She was running through her suspect list in her mind. _No matter how suspicious Josie acts, she couldn't have gotten in here. Unless she's working with someone else. Kate Osbourne's looking pretty suspicious now too. She already has the means and the motive- Chase's dumping her. Or that Bert Rainier guy, he'd have access to the basement as well... _She shook her head; she had her work cut out for her.

"Can we see your lie detector now?" Vanessa was asking. "Do you think the actual machine has anything to do with the sabotage?"

"I don't know." Peter answered. "But yes, we'll show you." He and Chase led the way up though the burned office and, after unlocking the door, into the adjoining lab. The lab was white and sterile, its metallic tables gleaming in the sunlight. Tools and equipment hung neatly on one wall.

"Where is it?" Vanessa asked, looking around the orderly room. She saw a few basic machines that she recognized for welding, cutting, etc., but nothing that even resembled her idea of a lie detector.

Chase grinned, going over to a series of long, conjoined closets in the wall. Taking a key, he unlocked the third and fourth in the row and they swung open, revealing nothing but a row of hanging lab coats. Vanessa's eyes widened, but Chase didn't seem fazed. He pushed the coats aside and rapped on the back of the closet wall.

Nancy raised an eyebrow at the shallow sound it made. "False backs?"

Peter grinned at her appreciatively. "You got it." Nancy tried not to blush.

Chase, meanwhile, had pried at the closet backings and forced them apart to reveal a large number-lock safe. "Ta-da!"

"Wow." Vanessa said. "I never would have guessed..."

"I think that's the point." Peter told her.

Chase punched a number combination into the keypad and Nancy waited, holding her breath. Would the lie detector still be in the safe?

There was a soft beep and a green light flashed. Chase turned the handle and pulled open the large door, revealing a deep safe that reminded Nancy of a walk-in closet, that is, if walk-in closets were made of reinforced steel. There were shelves lining the walls with projects of various stages of completion on them, and one shelf held nothing but paperwork, but the one Chase headed for was near the front, and it held nothing but a medium-sized cardboard box.

"The box looks a little out of place in such a high-tech lab." Vanessa commented wryly.

Chase grinned. "Just because we _can_ gold-plate a cardboard box doesn't mean we _should_."

"Sometimes the simplest things are the best." Peter agreed. Chase handed the box to him and he started unpacking it. First he took out several neatly-wrapped wires and plugs that were attached to various gadgets. Then he gently lifted out a rectangular screen that resembled a small computer monitor. He started hooking the wires into the monitor.

Chase pointed to the wires that were tidily wrapped around plastic tubes. "That's all Peter's doing." he said. "Me, I'd just throw the wires in there and then have to spend hours untangling them every day."

"And he would, too." Peter said, smirking fondly at his brother.

"So, explain how this works." Nancy requested. It looked a little like the polygraph she was acquainted with, but the monitor was new, and there were some wires whose functions she couldn't figure out.

"Actually, our version is based on the polygraph." Chase said, confirming Nancy's suspicion. "But with a major difference- a normal polygraph only measures bodily reactions, sweating and heart rate, etc. Ours measures brain waves as well."

Peter took up where Chase left off. "We high-teched it a bit. The monitor records the reactions instead of the typical needles and paper." He held up a long band of what looked like cloth, but Nancy could see the colorful wires snaking through it. "This is our big achievement. It straps around the person's head while they take the test, and it's job is to detect what parts of their brain they're using when they're giving their answers. Obviously we all use certain parts of our brains when speaking anything, whether we're lying or telling the truth. But extra parts of the brain are used when lying, and the machine can record when those extra parts are being used."

"So that's how you know when someone is lying." Vanessa finished, nodding.

"Right." Chase said. "But the best part is its accuracy. Whereas a regular polygraph can be fooled because it relies on bodily reactions, this one reads straight from the brain. We've tested it on many different people and found it to be 99 percent accurate."

"Wow." Nancy was impressed. That was a very high success rate for such a controversial machine. "That's amazing."

Peter smiled. "That's exactly what Josie said."

Nancy was instantly alert. "Josie has seen it?" she asked, trying to sound casual.

"Sure." Peter replied. "She even helped us test it a few times."

"When?" If Josie had been in the building, especially recently, that put her back on the list of people who could have gotten in to fix the sprinklers.

"I don't know." Peter said, giving her an odd look. "Last week sometime. Why?" He suddenly seemed to realize on his own. "If you suspect her, you should just forget it. We trust her completely."

Chase nodded in agreement. "Besides, why would she want to sabotage us?"

Nancy sighed. "I've been asking myself that same question. But if she had an opportunity to do it, I still need to be on the lookout for her. Just in case."

Peter frowned. "She suspects you too."

"What?" the other three chorused.

"That's what she told me before we left the apartment this morning. She thinks you girls are acting weird. She knows about the sabotage because she's been around when some of it happened. She thinks it might be your fault." Peter said.

"What did you tell her?" Nancy asked.

Peter shrugged. "I was caught off-guard. I pretended to get mad at her for accusing my girlfriend like that."

"Hmm... I guess we'll have to work harder to keep up the act if we're not fooling everyone..." As for Josie, Nancy didn't know what to think. Something about the girl was definitely off.

Vanessa broke the silence. "Think you can give us a demonstration?" she requested curiously.

Chase laughed. "Why not? But which one of you wants to be the guinea pig?" Both girls looked at the machine dubiously.

"I'll do it." Nancy finally volunteered. She looked at Vanessa, whose eyes were sparkling in anticipation of this opportunity. "Be nice." she warned. Then she allowed Peter to hook her up to the wires and slip the headband snugly around her forehead.

Chase flipped a switch on the monitor and it whirred to life, glowing brightly. The boys asked Nancy some basic yes/no questions to calibrate the machine, and then the interrogation began. They kept the subject material light, asking questions like "Have you ever been in New York before?" ("Yes.") Nancy answered them all truthfully, and the squiggly lines that flashed across the screen stayed basically level.

"Okay." Peter said. "Now tell a lie so you can see how it reacts."

Nancy grinned wryly. "I know who the saboteur is." The lines for bodily reactions only moved up a little, after all, it was hardly the kind of lie that would cause her to sweat, but the brain wave line spiked noticeably. "Whoa." Nancy said, surprised. "It really works!" The brain wave line returned to its normal position.

"You've got that right!" Chase laughed.

"I have a question." Vanessa said, smiling innocently at Nancy. "Did you and Peter have fun last night?"

"No." Nancy deadpanned. She grinned up at Peter as the machine registered her lie and he returned the smile.

Vanessa almost asked a question about Frank, but she decided she wasn't that mean. So she was surprised when Peter beat her to it.

"Do you have a boyfriend, Nancy?" he asked softly, not meanly, and _not_ just idly curious.

Chase mentally smacked his tactless brother. He put his hand to the on/off switch, but Nancy answered before he could turn it off.

"...Sort of."

The machine didn't register it as a lie.

Chase and Peter looked at each other in wonder, but said nothing. Chase's hand flicked the switch. Vanessa looked at her friend and felt unaccountably sad.

Peter freed Nancy from the wires and wordlessly began rolling them up. Nancy stood up and brushed herself off. She gave her friends a quick smile and said brightly, "I want to talk to Bert Rainier."

* * *

A/N: Hmm... Well, you know the drill: give me your thoughts, opinions, anything... just review!

(Just so you know, I got the idea for the brain wave lie detector from a newspaper article I read lately, so there are really things like that out there, although I added my own twist to make it less complicated.)


	6. Suspicious Behavior

Disclaimer: I invented several of the characters, including Chase and Peter Long, Kate Osbourne, and Josie Carpenter. Nancy, Vanessa, and the Hardy boys are not mine.

A/N: Sorry about the wait. As always, thanks to everyone who reviewed; it really means a lot.

* * *

"Good idea." Peter said after a pause. "Bert is definitely a suspect."

Chase snorted. "But he'll be a little surprised to see me in his office. He hates my guts, remember, Pete?"

"It's true." Peter confirmed, shooting a look at Nancy. "Bert goaded my brother into a fistfight a few months ago. They haven't even spoken since."

Nancy raised an eyebrow at Chase. Why had he failed to mention that?

Chase answered before she could ask. "I... I didn't want to bring it up. It's embarrassing. But he sure knows how to get under my skin."

Nancy nodded. "What'd he say to you?"

Chase rubbed the back of his neck. "You know how I told you he was bitter about our lie detector being better than his? Well, that's kind of an understatement. He thought we'd stolen his idea, but nobody believed him. I mean, Peter and I have been working on the detector at least a year longer than Bert has; if anything, he stole our idea."

"But the fight?" Vanessa reminded him.

"Right, so anyway, Bert was angry and he just started verbally attacking Pete and I any chance he got, calling us liars, cheaters. One day when Peter wasn't there he started getting personal, talking trash about Kate and stuff. This was back when I was still dating her, of course. Anyway, I just hit him, and he hit back, and before you know it we were going at it." Chase told them.

Vanessa whistled. "The police get involved?"

"Nah." Chase said. "Anyway, something good did come out of it- Bert has stayed out of my way ever since!"

"But the point is that it wouldn't be a good idea for Chase to confront him again?" Nancy asked, disappointed.

"Yeah." Peter said. "But if you think it's important, I'll go with you. Bert and I are on slightly better terms."

"Great!" Nancy said, flashing him a quick smile.

"You wanna stay with me?" Chase asked Vanessa as he put the lie detector back in the safe, closed it, replaced the paneling, and locked the closets. Peter and Nancy were already on their way out the door.

"Yeah." Vanessa said. She had never been particularly good at improvising, so suspect interviews were something she was glad not to get involved in.

"Cool." Chase waved Peter on. "Catch you later, Pete." Peter nodded and led Nancy out.

No one had been more shocked than Nancy when her answer of "sort of" was registered as the truth by the lie detector, and it worried her. Was it really true that she didn't fully consider Frank to be her boyfriend? As she followed Peter down the hall toward Rainier's office, she thought briefly about Frank and wished, _sort of_, that he was here. If he was here, she told herself, then she could be sure of her feelings.

Rainier's office was on the opposite side of the building. As they approached, she began to wonder exactly what she could say to him. 'Hi, I'm your academic rival's girlfriend and I was just wondering if you've set any suspicious fires lately?' didn't seem to be a good option. She decided to go with the tired, but effective 'research paper' technique. She reached out and caught Peter's hand just before he was about to knock on Rainier's door. "Why don't you wait out here?" she whispered. Peter nodded reluctantly and took a place around the corner and out of view, signaling that he would wait for her. Nancy lifted her hand and rapped on the door.

A minute later, Rainier answered it. He was shorter than Peter, with tousled brown hair and features that were plain rather than handsome. He looked a bit younger than Peter too; closer to Nancy's own age. "Can I help you?" he asked pointedly.

"I hope so." Nancy smiled softly, turning on the charm. "You see, I'm a student at NYU. I'm supposed to be writing a research paper on modern lie detecting methods, and I was told you were the man to see." A little flattery never hurt either. "Would it be possible for me to ask you a few questions?"

Rainier eyed her in a way that made her feel vaguely uncomfortable, but she didn't show it. She grinned happily a second later when he held the door open for her to enter. "Come on in."

* * *

"Where to?" Frank asked his little brother as they neared the exit that would take them to New York City. It had been a long few hours for Frank, driving while Joe fidgeted in the passenger seat.

Joe rolled his eyes. "Smithson Research Institute. Lower Manhattan. Where do you think?" The amount of time Joe had to sit still was directly proportional to how snappish he got.

"Chill out, Joe." Frank warned as he turned onto the ramp, keeping his eyes on the road. "It won't do any good to go into this thing, whatever it is, all hotheaded."

Joe sighed. "Sorry, bro. It's just... we could have been there fifteen minutes ago if you didn't drive so..."

"Legally?" Frank supplied helpfully.

"Yeah." Joe grumbled. He launched into a new complaint. "And what's with this Chase Long guy Van's supposedly with?"

Frank didn't think it was a good time to mention that he'd read about Chase Long and his brother, Peter, and admired them immensely for their brilliant inventions and talent with computers, so he ignored the question. It was rhetorical anyway. He made do with a blatant threat. "Joe, for the last time, relax before I strangle you."

"Not like you could." Joe mumbled. "Well, not if you wanted to drive at the same time, anyway." he amended. He knew his brother wasn't serious about strangling him, but Frank could do major damage if he ever really wanted to. "Hey," Joe defended himself. "You'd be like this too if Nancy was in this situation."

Frank thought for a second. "Yeah, I guess I would be."

* * *

Vanessa smiled at the security guard as Chase led her out of the research building. He had already given her a mini-tour of his lab, but it was a beautiful day and she wanted to be outside. Taking a deep breath of fresh air as she stepped into the sunlight, she cast a look around for something to do while they waited for Peter and Nancy. "What's out back?" she asked suddenly.

"What?" Chase asked.

She pointed to a small brick pathway that led around to the back of the building. "Oh. It just leads to a little courtyard back there." Chase said. "It's pretty nice. You want to check it out?"

"Please." Vanessa nodded. They followed the path around the building and Vanessa smiled at the sight of the charming courtyard, green and sunlit and surrounded by a hedge of the same bushes that lined the path out front. There were no other people around, and Vanessa made a comment to that effect.

"Sometimes there's a lot of us out here." Chase told her. "Like on those days when you're sick of being cooped up inside all the time. And sometimes the other researchers test things out here."

"Like what?" Vanessa asked.

Chase grinned. "See that patch over there where there's no grass?"

Vanessa nodded.

"That's what happens when you drop water balloons filled with Hawaiian punch and vinegar out of a fourth story window."

Vanessa laughed, truly unable to tell whether he made that up or not. "Well, Hawaiian punch patch aside, it's beautiful." she commented, taking a seat on a bench.

"And vinegar." Chase reminded her. "And yeah, it is beautiful... just like you." And he stared into her eyes so deeply that Vanessa couldn't keep a straight face.

She burst out laughing. "Well, if we're going to be friends anyway, we might as well make the best fake couple we can!"

"You got it." Chase promised, laughing as well.

* * *

Nancy entered the office and took a seat opposite Rainier's desk. She had brought her notebook in her purse today, hoping to have this very opportunity. "Terribly sorry." she said. "I never introduced myself. My name is Nancy. Nancy Laurence." She quickly used the name Chase and Peter had concocted for her. "But of course I know who you are, Mr. Rainier."

Rainier sat at his desk and smiled. "Call me Bert." he replied. He leaned his elbows on the desk and rested his chin on his folded fingers. "You said you're writing a paper on lie detecting methods?"

"That's right." Nancy said. "I heard you're on the verge of a breakthrough."

Bert scowled. "Well, you heard right."

"Is something wrong?" Nancy asked, knowing very well what was on his mind.

"Sure there's something wrong. I take it you've heard of the Long brothers?"

"Yes." Nancy admitted.

"Well, they're due to market their new product next week, and three guesses what it is."

"A lie detector?" Nancy asked meekly.

"Yes!" Bert fairly shouted, pounding his hand on the desk. "And it's an idea they stole from me!"

Nancy was surprised that he had gotten on the very topic she wanted to hear about so quickly. She pretended to be taking notes furiously. "Really?" she asked, sounding shocked. "That's horrible!"

"After all that time I spent working on it, they've gone and made it obsolete!" Bert panted. He told her about the brain wave detector he had come up with, and how the Longs had used this idea in their own polygraph, making it so efficient that Bert could no longer market his own.

"How could they have found out about your brain wave detector?" Nancy asked. "Could they just walk right into your office? Are you here often?"

Bert seemed to be glad to have someone to rant to. "I always keep my office locked when I'm not here!" he protested. "And I'm here often. I don't know how they managed to steal my concept, but I'll find out, and when I do..." he let the sentence hang ominously. "I was here for twelve hours yesterday!" he continued. "The Longs came in for half an hour just to show off their labs to their girlfriends, and ended up setting the place on fire!"

Nancy sat up, surprised again that he was bringing up the fire so easily. And he had just admitted that he was here all day yesterday!

"Then, the girlfriend ends up getting a picture in the paper! Can you believe that?"

Nancy's eyebrows shot up. In the paper? How did she not know about this? "No, I can't believe it." she answered, trying to sound as indignant as he. "It's unbelievable!"

After a few more minutes of complaining about the Longs Bert finally calmed down. "I'm sorry, Nancy. I guess I haven't told you too much about lie detection methods, have I?"

Nancy had heard all she needed to for now. "Oh, no, it's alright, you've been great." She stood up and offered her hand. "Thank you very much, Bert."

Bert stood as well and enclosed her hand in a surprisingly firm grip. "My pleasure, Nancy." he said, smiling at her, his lips stretched tightly over his teeth.

She shook his hand up and down and then tried to disentangle her fingers from his grip. "Well, goodbye... I'll be sure to quote you in my paper!" Why wasn't he letting go? Had it been her picture in the paper and he knew she was Peter's 'girlfriend'? Did he think she was spying? Was he going to call her on it?

Though shorter than Peter or Frank, Bert was still able to leer down at her. "Before you go, Nancy, would you be interested in having dinner sometime?"

Nancy nearly went limp with relief. He didn't recognize her. He just wanted to ask her out! "Thanks, Bert, but I really can't." She winked. "My boyfriend wouldn't like that." _Neither of them, _she thought wryly.

"He wouldn't have to know." Bert pressed, not releasing her hand.

_What a jerk._ She didn't like Bert; he seemed hot-tempered and arrogant. But Nancy considered for a moment. If Bert was a suspect, she needed to be able to watch him carefully. She decided to leave her options open. "Well, we'll see..." she said, allowing a hint of coyness to seep into her voice. She one-handedly wrote her cell phone number on a corner of her notebook paper and ripped it off, sliding it into his hand. He finally let go of her other hand, and Nancy resisted the urge to wipe it on her pants as she backed towards the door. "See you around."

Bert looked down at the paper in his hand and grinned after her. "That's right." he said.

* * *

Joe walked out of the research institute, smacking his fist into the palm of his hand. "We should have known there would be security." he groaned. "Why didn't you think of that, Frank?"

Frank shrugged. "I'm having an off day." He didn't add that even if he'd told Joe that in the first place, Joe wouldn't have listened anyway. "So what's the new plan? Hang around until we see Vanessa or Chase Long? Try to sneak into the building?"

"Maybe." Joe said. He pointed toward the brick pathway at the side of the building. "But first, let's check out the backyard."

"Why not." Frank sighed. He didn't really see this going anywhere. Joe crouched down behind the continuous hedge of bushes lining the building, and Frank followed.

* * *

Suddenly Chase heard a rustling sound in the bushes. He leaned his mouth very close to Vanessa's ear and whispered, "Did you hear that?"

She nodded slightly. "Do you think it's that photographer coming back?" she whispered back.

Chase shrugged and took her hand, pulling her to her feet. "Probably. What do you want to do?"

"What do you mean?" Vanessa asked, her voice still very low. But she was smiling, so as not to alarm the photographer.

"Well, we could confront him, but he'd probably still wind up getting some pictures. We could run for it. Or..." he grinned wickedly. "We could give him something to see." He raised his eyebrows and slipped a casual arm around her waist.

Vanessa smirked mischievously; she knew exactly what he was thinking. "Well, I know which one would be the most fun..." she replied in a purposely-breathy whisper. She and Chase both knew she wasn't serious- it was all in fun.

Chase winked and, with only the slightest glance at the bushes behind them, he pulled her in for the most convincing stage kiss of her life.

* * *

"What the-?"

Frank and Joe both stared, open-mouthed, at the sight before them. There was no question that the girl was Vanessa Bender; the boys would know her ash-blonde hair anywhere. As for the way her lips were firmly attached to the illustrious Chase Long's... that part was new.

A wave of emotion washed over Joe. Shock and disbelief, first of all, and then hurt, betrayal, and anger. As soon he managed to force his mouth shut, he was standing, bursting through the bushes, stalking towards the kissing couple with his fist cocked to strike.

Frank gaped for a second too long, only snapping out of it when he reached out a hand to restrain his brother and found it was too late: Joe was already in the clearing.

Vanessa sensed the movement out of the corner of her eye and pulled back from Chase. She had expected the photographer to take pictures from the bushes, not come in for a close-up! She was surprised and startled to turn around and face an angry Joe Hardy. "It's not what you think-" she gasped desperately as Joe pulled back his arm to throw a punch at an equally-startled Chase.

Vanessa did the only thing she could. She planted her feet firmly between Chase and Joe and screamed.

* * *

Nancy's mind had done the inevitable and drifted back to Frank Hardy as she and Peter made their way back to the Longs' lab, only to find that Chase and Vanessa had left and gone outside. What was she doing doubting Frank? He had told her he loved her. He was the most reliable, most caring person she knew. Why did she suddenly have trouble believing he was hers?

A scream jostled her out of her thoughts. "Vanessa!" she exclaimed. She and Peter glanced at each other once and took off toward the sound at a run.

* * *

A/N: Talk about a sticky situation...

The next chapter needs to be reworked so it could be a while. (I may need to use katie janeway's writer's block method and go find some horrible stories to inspire me...) On the other hand, _please _tell me what you think of this chapter- reviews inspire me too! (hinthint)


	7. Caught in the Act

A/N: Sorry for the wait. Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: Not mine.

* * *

Nancy and Peter emerged into the bright daylight, squinting around for any sign of Vanessa. Suddenly Peter pointed to the brick path. "In the back!" he cried, grabbing Nancy by the hand as they ran for the courtyard. 

Nancy stopped short at the sight in front of her, momentarily stunned. A harried-looking Vanessa stood between Chase and Joe Hardy in a stance that suggested she was shielding Chase with her body, and Frank was on the other end, restraining his brother by the shoulders. Nancy opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out and she simply stared.

Frank seemed to be the only one to notice their approach, and one corner of his mouth quirked up in a smile. His smile faded quickly, however, as his warm brown eyes took in the image of Nancy standing with Peter, their fingers interlocked.

Nancy, sensing where his gaze was directed, dropped Peter's hand guiltily. Peter shot her a curious glance, but Nancy couldn't meet his eyes.

Vanessa was having trouble meeting Joe's eyes as well. Her cheeks burned as she realized what this must look like to him. She had never been so embarrassed in all her life. And to top it all off, there was still the potential for her client to get punched in the face by her disgruntled boyfriend.

Chase made a slow move, trying not to alarm the younger Hardy. "You must be Joe." he said carefully, looking to Vanessa for confirmation. "She's told me all about you." It was a lie; she'd only mentioned him the once.

Confusion showed in Joe's bright blue eyes as he looked from Chase to Vanessa and back. "Apparently she hasn't told you enough..." he growled.

Nancy decided it was time to rescue Vanessa. "There's a good explanation for everything, Joe." she spoke up.

Joe looked her way for the first time. "So spill, Drew." he said, almost without missing a beat.

Nancy pursed her lips. "Do we have to talk here in the open?"

"We can do it in the office." Chase offered.

"As soon as we get a formal introduction." Peter reminded her.

Nancy and Vanessa shared a glance and sighed, unable to tell if the boys were purposely making this hard for them. _This is what I get for not calling Joe before I left,_ Vanessa thought, annoyed. "Okay," she said, the complete absurdity of the situation making her snappish. "Frank, Joe, this is Peter and Chase Long. Peter and Chase, our _very good friends_ Frank and Joe Hardy."

The Hardys exchanged glances but didn't comment on Vanessa's choice of words. Nancy waited until they were safely secured in the Longs' lab before she let out a long breath. "Thanks for not making a scene and _completely_ blowing our covers, guys."

"Anytime." Joe said dryly, still eying his girlfriend warily.

Vanessa clung to Joe's arm, trying to smooth his wounded pride. "It was nothing, Joe." she said quietly. "We thought you were a photographer, honest."

"Yeah, sorry about that, Joe." Chase added. "Nothing personal."

Frank and Nancy hadn't spoken yet. He was usually able to read her, and today it seemed like she had something on her mind. "So you're undercover." he repeated. "Anything Joe and I can do to help?"

That was Frank, Nancy thought: concise and concerned, always offering help, not pushing her for explanation. Just the sound of his voice gave her a little shiver, like it always had. "I don't know." Nancy said, not turning to face him. Instead she looked at the Longs and gave them a proper introduction. "Peter, Chase, Frank and Joe are our b-boyfriends." She stumbled only slightly over the word, but everybody noticed. "They're detectives too. Is it okay if we tell them about the case?"

Peter looked at Vanessa, then Nancy. "As long as you're sure we can trust them." he said.

_With my life, _Nancy thought, simply nodding.

"They've already stumbled in on their own. We might as well." Chase pointed out. "Besides, I've read about the Hardy boys in the papers once in a while. They've got a good reputation; they could probably help us." He gave Frank and Joe a tentative smile. "I guess you could say I'm a fan."

Frank looked at the ground, modestly running a hand through his hair. _Oh, the irony._

Joe gave a barely audible snort.

"That's right. Come on, guys." Vanessa said, casting a hopeful glance at the Hardys, Joe in particular.

Joe looked away from her. "What's the problem?" he asked Peter.

Peter quickly explained about the sabotage and outlined his plan to have Vanessa and Nancy pose as girlfriends, with Chase filling in the gaps.

Vanessa had a sudden thought. "How did you guys know where to find us?"

"I think I know." Nancy answered. "Your picture was in the paper this morning, Van."

The Hardys nodded. Vanessa looked shocked. "What?"

"Bert said something about reading about your collapse yesterday in the paper." Nancy repeated. "I wouldn't have thought the picture would make it all the way to Bayport. Let's hope none of your other friends saw it or who knows who else will drop in on us..."

"I doubt it." Frank said. "I wouldn't have recognized you in the picture if Joe and I weren't just talking about you."

Vanessa cocked an eyebrow. "Talking about me?"

"Joe won't admit this," Frank said, trying to keep his tone light. "But he was freaking out when he couldn't find you."

Everyone smiled, but Vanessa was inwardly upset with herself. She and Frank were probably the only two who knew how much Joe really did worry about her, constantly wanting to protect her. It was stifling at times, she would admit, but she couldn't bring herself to love him any less for it. She remembered the conversation they'd had after she'd escaped from her kidnappers on vacation last week.

'_I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you.' _he'd said in a raw voice.

_'I love you, Joe, and if that's the risk I'm taking by being with you, then so be it.'_ she'd told him.

Vanessa eyes were tearing up again. "Do you think we could have a minute alone?" she asked Peter and Chase reluctantly.

Both young men seemed glad to be able to retreat from the awkward situation. "We'll wait in the office." Peter said, catching Nancy's eye and making a little gesture. She nodded back.

The door closed behind them, but before Vanessa could speak Nancy began. "Don't be angry at her, Joe. I was the one who asked her to come here and help me out. I just needed someone who knew how to handle herself in a tight spot, that I could trust-"

"Relax, Nan." Joe actually laughed at her willingness to take the blame. "I get it."

Vanessa turned to him. "I'm sorry, Joe." she said. "I should have called."

Joe shrugged off her apology, but couldn't refrain from asking, "Why didn't you?"

Vanessa blushed and smiled wryly. "How do you go about saying something like that? Just that you're off to solve a mystery while posing as someone else's significant other? Would you tell me?"

Joe exchanged a startled glance with Nancy and Frank- they were all thinking about the time they spent in Egypt posing as married couples.

Frank's lips quirked up in a smile. "I know I wouldn't." The time he'd spent "married" to Nancy had been the beginning of the end for his and Callie's relationship- and he'd never told her. He raised his eyebrows at his brother, knowing very well that Joe had never mentioned that little excursion to Vanessa either.

Joe's expression softened. "I guess you're right..." He looped an arm around her waist, and Vanessa knew her apology had been accepted. "I'm just glad you're okay. When I saw you in that picture, unconscious..."

"It really wasn't anything." Vanessa said comfortingly. "An accident."

Nancy's lip twitched at that, but she said nothing. Besides, at that point, Joe and Vanessa were in their own little world.

Frank reached out to touch Nancy's shoulder. "Nan? What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Nancy said, turning to face him. "I... I'm really glad you're here."

His intelligent brown eyes bore into hers for a long moment before he finally slid a hand through her long hair and lowered his head to hers in a soft, potent kiss, either not remembering or not caring that his brother and Vanessa were in the room. Nancy's hands ran over his chest and came to rest on his shoulders, but before she could pull him too close he backed away, staring down at her with a stunned half-grin. "I'm still not used to being able to do that." he whispered huskily, his eyes drawn to her lips.

Nancy still felt the jolt echoing through her body; she simply nodded. "It seems like it's been forever." she murmured, her fingertips tracing their way down his arms to take his hands.

"Only a week. Ten days." Frank corrected himself, leaning his forehead against hers. He was breathing slightly faster than usual, and Nancy wondered if he was going to kiss her again. Instead, he gave her hands a squeeze. "Tell me what's going on." he requested, his eyes willing her to look him in the face.

"What do you mean?" Nancy whispered back.

"We're still okay, you and me, right?" Frank asked.

Nancy only hesitated the slightest second. "Better than okay."

Frank studied her a moment longer before smiling in response. "So I guess we have work to do." he said, straightening up.

Joe and Vanessa were already standing by the door. "About time, you two." Joe teased.

Peter and Chase rejoined the group, still looking slightly uncomfortable. Nancy took the opportunity to fill in all four boys and Vanessa in on her interview with Bert, including his intense hatred of the Long brothers. Peter frowned when she got to the part where Bert asked her out. "You gave that creep your phone number?" he asked incredulously.

Nancy shrugged. "If it's really him the opportunity might be useful." she glanced at Frank and he nodded as if he understood.

"He sounds like a jerk, though." Vanessa commented. "I think he should be suspect number one. He has motive and opportunity, and he could easily have fixed the sprinklers."

"But don't forget those companies we were going to check out, the ones that might be trying to stop the Longs for competitive reasons." Nancy reminded her. "Plus, I want to talk to Kate Osbourne again. And Josie." Peter started to say something, but Nancy gave him a no-nonsense glance. "She's not out of the running yet. Especially if she really does know who we are."

Peter closed his mouth.

"These companies," Frank began. "Do you want Joe and I to take a look at them?" It went without saying that Frank and Joe couldn't afford to be seen with Peter, Chase, Nancy and Vanessa. The last thing they needed was for the Hardys to be recognized, thereby blowing their cover.

Nancy and Vanessa exchanged a look. "It's not that we don't want your help," Vanessa started carefully. "But do you really think it's a good idea for you guys to stick around...?" She knew Joe would never go for it, but she felt she had to say it, just in case.

Joe raised his eyebrows. "Trying to get rid of us?" he returned her question with another.

Vanessa smiled cheekily. "It would serve you right after all the times you've made me sit at home and worry."

"Forget we said anything." Nancy said quickly, sensing the potential for things to really get ugly. "If you're determined to stick around, and I know you are, then we gratefully accept your offer." Frank met her eyes and they both smiled.

"So do Peter and I," Chase spoke up. "Oh, and there's a hotel across the street from our apartment. Pete and I can pull some strings and get you a room. There's room for two more detectives on the payroll."

Nancy blushed. "I think we told you that we won't accept money for this."

"And I thought _we_ told _you_ that we insist on paying your expenses, if nothing else." Peter challenged good-naturedly.

Nancy sighed in mock exasperation. "Okay, okay, that's fair. Thanks."

Frank sensed there had been conflict about this before. "That hotel sounds great." he said. "This trip was kind of spur-of-the-moment, so we didn't arrange a place to stay ahead of time."

"And we'd like to be nearby, in case anything happens." Joe added.

Peter and Chase exchanged a glance. Vanessa rolled her eyes. No one said anything.

* * *

A/N: Oh my. I'm not a huge fan of this chapter myself, although I can't figure out why, what with its being mostly fluff... Sorry, again, for the wait. I'm having a bit of block on this, so it may be a while before the next update, but I promise to do my best to get a new one up relatively soon. Thanks for reading, and of course, please review! 


	8. Followed

A/N: I'm sorry, I really am. Mostly about the long wait. And the way I keep promising to sit down and do some hard-core work on this and then get sidetracked. But, really, I never promised timely updates. Not even reasonably timely. And writer's block comes and goes, you understand. But from now on, let it be known that updates will occur completely spontaneously and sporadically. Sorry...

* * *

"I don't like this, Frank. Not at all."

_Me neither._ Frank privately agreed. "What can we do but go along with it?" he reminded his brother. He and Joe were walking down the hallway of the hotel in which they were now staying, courtesy of the Long brothers. They reached their room and Frank swiped the key-card in the lock and pushed open the door, revealing a large room luxuriously decorated in muted greens and gold.

Joe was impressed despite himself. "Nice place." he said grudgingly. He dropped his duffel bag onto one of the two double beds.

Frank walked over to the window, pushed aside the curtains, and peered out. "Check this out." he said. He gestured to the view of the Longs' apartment building across the street. "Front row seats."

"Whatever you say." Joe sighed, joining his brother at the window. He looked down at the street and imagined Vanessa and Nancy walking hand in hand with Chase and Peter eight stories below. "You know what? Let's go see about those companies. The sooner this is over... the sooner it's done with."

Frank couldn't help but roll his eyes as he followed his brother out of the room. _How profound, Joe. How profound.

* * *

_

"Hey, you okay?" Nancy was jolted out of her thoughts by Peter, who'd just taken her elbow lightly.

"Hmm? What? Oh, yeah." she responded distractedly, flashing a guilty grin. "I was just thinking about how that little meeting ranked in my top ten most awkward moments."

Peter laughed a little. "Yeah, I definitely did not see that coming."

Vanessa turned around from where she and Chase were walking ahead, their hands clasped so loosely Nancy suspected they'd forgotten they were holding hands. "You think _you _were embarrassed?" she snorted. "I thought Joe was going to kill Chase and then blow a brain vessel!"

The four laughed and Vanessa and Chase turned back to their previous conversation. "So, only top ten, huh? On the embarrassing moments scale?" Peter teased gently.

"Oh, you'd be surprised how many... situations you find yourself in." Nancy said mysteriously. She was glad for the mindless distraction of banter- she had plenty of things to think about at the moment.

_Bert, Kate, Josie..._ The names tumbled around in her head, frustrating her. It seemed like each was a part of the puzzle, but none was the solution. And now she wanted to add two major corporations to the whirl of suspects. It was almost daunting. She found herself glad the Hardys had found their way in, despite the awkwardness factor. They always managed to help her see things more clearly. They'd planned a rendezvous for tonight to let her know what they found. The thought calmed her considerably.

And then she was faced with the guilt over her relationship with Frank. It was weird, she thought. Just when she'd thought their relationship couldn't get any more complicated, it had. She had told him they were fine, better than okay, and she wanted it to be true. But she was experiencing an unsettling feeling of deja vu... Sure, the thing with Peter was only an assignment. But hadn't her thing with Frank in Egypt been "only an assignment"? And look what that had led to!

She barely realized they had reached the apartment until they were in the elevator. Peter went to punch in the code to unlock the door when it was flung open from the inside, revealing a distraught-looking Josie. "Oh, thank goodness." she murmured weakly. "You're back!"

Nancy was instantly alert. Josie's doe eyes were wide and frightened and she was shaking slightly. "What's wrong?" she questioned.

Peter took a hold of Josie's arm and pulled her into the hallway. Chase slipped into the apartment cautiously, looking around. "Is there someone in here?" he asked tensely.

Josie shook her head. "Oh, no, no. I don't think. It's just... we just got a phone call and I thought..."

Vanessa put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "A phone call? Like a threat?"

Josie nodded slightly, and Peter gently guided her into the room by the small of her back. He sat down on the couch next to her, and the others filled in, closing the door and crowding around her. "First of all, are you okay?" Peter asked, echoing the words he'd just asked Nancy minutes before.

Josie nodded and took a deep breath, seemingly steeling herself for telling the story. "It was only a few minutes ago. The phone rang. I answered it and they wouldn't tell me who was calling. They started saying horrible things..."

"They?" Nancy interrupted tentatively. "Was it a man? A woman? More than one? Could you tell?"

Josie shook her head, tight-lipped. "I don't know. A man, I think. With a low voice. I didn't recognize- I was startled..." Her voice cracked.

Peter looked at Nancy reproachfully. He carefully rubbed circles on Josie's back. "It's okay, Jose. Take your time."

"It's... I'm sorry." Josie said miserably. "I'm just... He warned that if you didn't back off, bad things would happen to you. He told me to tell you that, Chase. Pete."

Chase furrowed his brow. "Back off? Back off of what?"

Josie blinked. "I... I don't know. I guess he thought you would know." After a pause she continued. "And then he hung up and I heard you at the door and I was so afraid it was them coming..." She gave a sudden laugh and wiped at her eyes. "I sound ridiculous, don't I?"

"No, Jose, no." Peter soothed. "We don't blame you at all."

"In fact," Chase added, concerned, "If you want to take a break from here until we get this joker caught, it's fine. We don't want you getting hurt."

Josie refused with a determined shake of her head, her teariness leaving her gradually. "It's okay. I'm fine now."

Nancy and Vanessa shared a glance, both wondering if Josie was actually frightened or if she was acting. She was being very vague with the details, and she seemed to be enjoying the attention both brothers were giving her...

"Don't worry, Jo. We're gonna do something about this." Peter reassured the girl, giving her shoulder a squeeze.

Josie looked at Peter with admiring eyes before her gaze swept over the rest of the group. "Thanks, guys. And I'm sorry, again."

"Don't be." Chase said.

Despite her uncertainty about Josie, Nancy found herself liking the girl. Even upset, she was still stronger than she looked, and she appeared ashamed of her breakdown. "Josie? If you remember anything else..."

Josie's glance cut to Nancy startlingly quickly and Nancy realized she'd made a mistake. "You want me to tell _you_ if I remember anything?" Josie asked suspiciously.

Vanessa saved her with a fumbling excuse. "Well, it's just the police might want to..."

"I thought you guys didn't want to bring the police into this?" Josie questioned, looking at Peter and Chase.

Chase nodded, as if her were explaining to Vanessa for the first time. "We don't want anything about the sabotage getting out."

"Oh, right." Vanessa answered stupidly.

Josie gave both girls a last troubled glance before heading into the kitchen.

_The girl's a conundrum,_ Nancy thought. _Either she knows something that we don't, or she's sharper than we thought...

* * *

_

Later that evening, Nancy and Vanessa discussed their case with the Hardys over coffee in a secluded booth of a random cafe.

"So? What'd you get?" Nancy asked eagerly the moment Frank and Joe slid into the seat across from her and Vanessa.

Frank shrugged. "Not much we didn't already know." He looked frustrated and vaguely discouraged, and Nancy fought to keep herself from showing any sign of affection. She settled for finding his hand under the table and squeezing it. He smiled at her and continued, "We visited Stoneridge Industries and Silicaid Corp., posing as potential investors, and we got the basic tour, you know, company overview, meeting salespeople, nothing new or informative."

"We did meet one woman who might be able to help us, though." Joe piped up. "She's a secretary at Silicaid. Her boss is the man who offered the positions to Chase and Peter."

"The jobs they turned down." Vanessa mused. "Has she noticed anything suspicious?"

"She said that her boss- name's Thomas Leedon- was pretty upset by the Longs' refusal. Understandably. I mean, with them starting their own business, that's more competition for Silicaid. Anyway, he tried to raise the resources to offer them more money, but they still wouldn't accept the offer." Joe explained.

"And...?" Nancy pressed.

Frank paused. "Well, she wouldn't come out and say it, but I think she thinks it's possible that Leedon's resorted to other tactics... scare tactics, maybe."

Nancy turned to Vanessa. "That would explain some things: the fire, the phone calls... Leedon could be trying to intimidate Peter and Chase out of starting their own company. Then they might take the positions at Silicaid and make more money for them."

Vanessa shrugged. "Sounds good in theory..." she trailed off, leaving the obvious unsaid. _We need proof._

Frank cleared his throat. "Have you considered Peter and Chase themselves?" Joe and Vanessa looked surprised at his bringing it up. Nancy gave it some thought.

"Not really." she admitted. "I mean, I suppose they could be doing it for publicity..."

"They couldn't have made the phone call to Josie today." Vanessa reminded. "They were with us." Both girls knew that was not conclusive proof of the boys' innocence, but if they were honest with themselves, they didn't want Peter and Chase to be behind the sabotage.

Frank and Joe exchanged a wary glance and looked back at the girls. "Just be careful." Frank said softly. He remembered cases where he had let jealousy cloud his judgment when it came to accusing suspects, but this time he knew he wasn't out of line. If Peter and Chase _were_ the saboteurs, their little charade put not only the girls' lives in danger, but their hearts, if they were foolish enough to risk them. Frank had the sickening feeling that Nancy liked Peter more than she wanted him to know, and it made him twice as uneasy to see Joe's girlfriend on Peter and Chase's side as well.

"Always." Nancy replied, slightly more coolly than she'd intended.

Snap!

The click was followed a split second later by a flash of light from a large camera. As the purple afterflash of the light swam before her, Nancy made out the features of a photographer who'd slipped into the cafe unnoticed- the same tabloid photographer who'd taken Vanessa's picture the time she passed out! Wriggling out of the booth, she lunged at the man, who jumped back, fumbling for one more picture. "Get him!" she yelled. Frank, Joe, and Vanessa were only a few steps behind her as she pursued the man, bells jingling wildly as he flung open the door of the cafe and ran into the street.

"Sir, please!" Nancy called after the photographer, slightly puzzled as to why he would be trying so hard not to be caught. "Please stop! We won't cause you any trouble!" But the man kept running and Nancy's heart sank as his destination became obvious- the set of steps on the street corner leading down to a subway station. She checked her pockets frantically for change as she descended the stairs, knowing she would never find the money in time. Joe passed her, outpacing her with his longer strides, but he was forced to stop at the gate while the photographer flashed a metrocard and slipped right through. He boarded the nearest train just as the doors slid shut.

Thinking quickly, Frank consulted the nearest map, shaking his head when he realized that the mystery photographer would have his choice of forty-two stops to get off at. There was no way they could find him now. He had gotten away.

Nancy and Vanessa stood nearby watching the subway pull out of the station. "Nancy," Vanessa started tentatively. "That photographer, was he...?"

"The same one who took your picture yesterday." Nancy confirmed through gritted teeth.

"And it couldn't just be coincidence, right?"

"Is it ever?" Nancy wondered. "No, Van, in a city as big as this one..."

Vanessa bit her lip. "So, this whole time... we've been followed?"

* * *

A/N: This one really stumped me while I was writing it. I think the next one will come quicker, though, we're nearing the climax and I have that pretty well outlined. Anyway, I'll do my best if you'll review for me- let me know you're still interested... Thanks for reading! 


	9. Without A Trace

Disclaimer: Not claiming anything.

* * *

Nancy felt discouraged as she let herself and Vanessa into the Longs' apartment. She couldn't help but feel as if things weren't coming together – and it was crunch time. There were only two days left before the scheduled unveiling of the lie detector, and the saboteur, whomever it was, was still on the prowl.

Peter and Chase were on the couch. Peter clicked off the TV and motioned for the girls to sit. "Find anything?" he asked hopefully.

"More clues and more suspects, followed by more puzzles and a dead end." Vanessa answered cryptically, collapsing next to Chase.

"The phantom photographer struck again." Nancy added.

"We got another phone call." Peter said.

"From the saboteur?"

"Maybe." Chase picked up. "From Silicaid. A rather cryptic call too. Asked us again if we'd consider taking the positions at Silicaid Corp. When we said no, he gave us some speech about losing our competitive edge."

"Weird." Vanessa commented.

Peter shook his head. "The weird part was that he gave us a number and told us we had 29 hours left to change our minds."

There was a momentary silence.

"Maybe he meant if you didn't take the jobs by then, they'd give them to someone else." Vanessa offered.

"29 hours left to change our minds..." Chase said. "Word for word. It sounded like a threat." he rubbed at his neck and gave a chuckle. "Maybe I'm getting too paranoid..."

"You said it was a 'he'." Nancy said. "Did he give you his name?"

"Yeah." Peter said easily. He reached behind him to grab a piece of paper lying by the phone. "I wrote it down. Name was... Leedon."

Nancy did a double take at the paper. The man whose secretary the Hardys had talked to! Vanessa was giving her a meaningful look and Nancy's insides twisted. Perhaps it _was _all coming together.

* * *

Nancy blinked awake at 8 the next morning, threw on an outfit, and quickly perused the morning newspaper, praying she wouldn't find any pictures of herself, Vanessa, or the Hardys. She breathed a sigh of relief when she realized the _Times_ had more important news to cover. Besides, without Peter or Chase in the pictures, the general public wouldn't find them too interesting anyway.

As soon as Vanessa and the Longs were up, they settled on their plan for the day. The Hardys had already agreed to revisit Silicaid Corp. and see if they could get any other information out of Leedon's secretary, Beverly. Nancy and Vanessa decided to spend the day back at the lab. They still had their suspicions about Bert and Kate, and they hoped to do a little more digging...

Once again, the Longs and their "girlfriends" got through security with no trouble. The halls were relatively empty, and all four were relieved to find the lab and office locked and just as they'd left it.

Nancy and Vanessa were in the ladies' room when the call came on Nancy's cell. She picked it up. "Hello?"

"Nan, it's Frank."

She could tell by the tone of his voice that there was a problem. "What's wrong?"

Frank gave a little chuckle. "Maybe something, maybe nothing. But probably something. Are you alone?"

Nancy looked around. She and Vanessa were the only ones in the bathroom, but anyone could walk in at any moment.

"Want me to stand outside and play watchman?" Vanessa whispered.

Nancy gave her a grateful nod and she slipped out of the bathroom. Nancy turned back to the phone. "Now I am." she answered.

"Okay," Frank said. "Sorry about that. Maybe I'm paranoid, but Joe and I are a little freaked."

"Are you at Silicaid?" Nancy asked. "Are you both okay?"

"Yes, we're okay, and at the moment, we're in the van." Frank answered. "But listen to this: when Joe and I went in to talk to Beverly today, you know, Leedon's secretary? She was gone."

"Gone?" Nancy repeated. "What do you mean, gone?"

"Completely vanished." Frank said. "Like she was never there. Her nameplate gone from her desk, her files erased from company records, a new secretary in her place. We asked around and nobody seemed to know where she went."

Nancy felt a chill creep down her spine. "What... do you think happened?"

Frank let out a shaky breath. "Let's just say the Leedon is the saboteur we're looking for. He finds out, somehow, that his secretary was talking to us, that she suspects him... maybe he panics and decides he can't have people throwing around these kinds of speculations...?"

"You think he killed her?" Nancy asked in a worried hiss. "That's... wow... I mean, sabotage is one thing..."

"Murder is another." Frank finished. "I know, I know. But she was _gone_, Nancy. Not gone like taking a sick day. And I'm pretty sure she would have mentioned yesterday if she was planning on leaving the company this soon."

"We could be completely wrong about this." Nancy said. "She could have a perfectly good reason-"

"But what if we're right?" Frank cut in. "That would make this mess a whole lot deeper."

"What are we going to do?" Nancy asked, suddenly at a loss.

Frank sighed. Even over the phone, Nancy could sense his frustration. "I'm afraid to go back in there." he admitted. "If we're right, and Beverly was killed for talking to us... I don't want to risk putting any other employees in danger by questioning them. We don't know who's on what side... how far up the chain of command this conspiracy goes... if it's a conspiracy at all..." he trailed off, thinking.

"Our plan was to hang around the lab." Nancy volunteered eventually. "Pete and Chase are understandably pretty concerned for the safety of their prototype, seeing as how the announcement about their company goes out in two days..." She realized she wasn't even listening to herself. "Frank...?"

"... What? Oh, sorry, Nan, it's just, this thing with Beverly. I mean, if she _was_ killed for talking to us... not even knowing what she was getting into..." Guilt seeped into his voice.

Nancy's heart tangibly clenched. "Frank, this isn't your fault."

"I know." Frank said, his voice returning to its normal calm. "But I want to do something."

"We need one of those famous plans of yours." Nancy said with a halfhearted smile.

"I need to think on it." Frank said. "I don't know where to go from here."

"Do you want to meet up?" Nancy suggested quietly.

"I want to." Frank replied. "But you know we can't. Undercover, remember, Drew?"

"Okay." Nancy grinned. "I should go. Van will think I've abandoned her. Call me if you think of anything, okay?"

"Okay... I love you, Nan."

Nancy was startled. "Love you too." she answered dutifully. "Bye." She stared at the phone for a moment after she hung up, chiding herself for what must have sounded like a quick brush-off to Frank. She put the phone in her pocket, deciding not to think about it right now. Pushing open the door to the ladies' room, she looked around. "Vanessa? Van?"

Her friend was nowhere in sight.

* * *

A/N: Okay, kind of short one, but I promise to have the next one up ASAP. Please don't forget to review; as any writer knows, it means a lot. 


	10. Panic

Disclaimer: Not mine.

* * *

"Vanessa!"

Nancy called her friend's name as she wandered through the first floor corridors. It had been fifteen minutes since she'd realized Vanessa was gone, and she'd immediately enlisted Peter and Chase's help in searching the facilities. They had each taken a floor to search, but with every passing minute Nancy's heart sank lower. If Vanessa had gone of her own accord, surely someone would have heard from her by now... "Vanessa!"

Nancy cursed herself for leaving the girl alone. She knew her friend could hold her own in a fair fight, but the thing about dealing with criminals was, the fight wasn't always fair. "Van! Where are you?"

A door opened to her right and an angry-looking Bert Rainier stepped out. "What's all this shouting? People here are trying to w-" he stopped short as he saw who he was speaking to. "Nancy?"

Nancy grinned sheepishly. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Rainier." She tried to seem nonchalant, but her eyes strained to peer through Rainier's half-closed door. "My friend was supposed to meet me here..."

Bert cut her off. "What are you doing here in the first place?" he asked slyly, giving her a wink.

Nancy fought to keep from rolling her eyes. He really _was_ pretty self-absorbed. Forcing a smile, she told the obvious lie, "I... um, came to see you."

Bert leaned against his door jamb and folded his arms. "Professionally? Or... personally?" Before Nancy could answer, he continued, "There was no friend, was there?"

"You think I just came around shouting a name to attract your attention?" Nancy blurted incredulously. She had other things to worry about at the moment, and she could not believe the audacity of this guy! Realizing she should keep up the charade, she rubbed her neck embarrassedly. "Well, yeah."

Bert smiled in that greasy way of his. "I hoped you'd come around." he said. "We'll... well, would you like to have dinner? Tomorrow night?"

"I'd love to." Nancy answered quickly but breathily. "Great, well... now that I've gotten what I came for... I should really get going..."

Bert stepped forward to take her elbow. "Let me walk you to the door."

"No, really, it's fine." Nancy protested.

"I insist." Bert said firmly, guiding her towards the lobby.

Nancy reentered the building ten minutes later and ran into Chase, toting a rumpled-looking but otherwise unharmed Vanessa. Nancy ran to give her friend a hug. "There you are! What happened to you?"

"Found her locked in a storage closet." Chase volunteered.

Vanessa groaned. "I was keeping watch outside the bathroom when I heard a strange noise around the corner of the hall. When I went to check it out, someone grabbed me from behind, pushed me into the open closet, and shut the door. When I tried the knob, I found it was locked from the outside, so I started banging on the door and calling for help until Chase found me and had a janitor come unlock the door."

"The saboteur strikes again." Nancy mused. "I wonder if it could have been Bert. I know he's here today; I just saw him."

"What happened?" Chase asked.

"He saw me looking for Van and decided I was making up an excuse to go to dinner with him. Then he insisted on showing me out and watching me walk away. I had to double around the block just to make him think I left!" Nancy said with exasperation. "That man is a piece of work. And now my dinner date for tomorrow night..."

Vanessa rubbed her friend's back sympathetically. "Poor Nancy... Oh, well, at least you're doing it for a good cause..."

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, save for the general uneasiness among the friends. Nancy was experiencing that nagging feeling again- the one she got when she was overlooking something important, and, more often than not, obvious. It was this feeling that kept her tossing and turning an hour after she'd climbed into bedin the Longs' apartment. Something wasn't right, something that should be sticking out to her...

Lying in the dark, Nancy went over the case again in her mind. Beverly... Lie detectors... Dinner with Bert... Threats from Silicaid... Mysterious photographer...

She looked over at the clock on her bedside table. The bright red lettering announced it was 12:49 am. As she watched, it changed to 12:50. Suddenly a thought hit her and she sat up in bed. The clock changed to 12:51 and she leaped out of the bed, running across the hall. "Chase! Peter!"

She barged into Chase's room and crouched by his bed. "Chase!"

"Hmm, what?" Chase mumbled, sitting up.

"The call you got from Silicaid last night." Nancy hissed urgently. "What time did they call?"

"Um..." Chase bit his lip, obviously still disoriented.

"Eight." Peter appeared in the doorway clad in a t-shirt and boxers. "I remember because the church down the street was ringing bells for the evening mass."

Nancy did the math quickly. "I should have known something was weird when they gave you a 29 hour deadline. That's just not a basic round number. It's odd. Too... precise." she glanced at the digital clock at Chase's side. 12:54. Turning to Peter, she said, "If you're right about the time of the call, Leedon's offer expires in six minutes."

Peter gave her a weird look. "So what? We've already agreed we don't want to work for him."

Nancy shrugged tensely. "I know, but... 29 hours? Why would they give such a weird deadline only to have it expire in the middle of the night?"

Chase sat up groggily and massaged his forehead with his fingers. "I dunno." he yawned.

"What if it wasn't the deadline for keeping your positions open at all? Maybe, when they said last chance, they _really meant _last chance." Nancy whispered.

"You mean you think they want to _kill_ us?" Chase asked incredulously.

"I didn't think so before, but in light of what may have happened to Beverly..." Nancy trailed off. "Look, it's 12: 57. We have three minutes. I really think maybe we should use them to-"

"Get out?" Peter suggested.

"Call it intuition, but, yes." Nancy was already stumbling across the hall in the dark towards Vanessa's room. "Van! Van! Get up now!"

A minute later, Nancy appeared in the hallway toting a half-sleeping Vanessa. Chase took a few last seconds to scoop up his keys and a set of backup disks that sat beside his computer.

Peter suddenly jumped a foot in the air. "Josie! She's in the other bedroom!"

In all the excitement Nancy had forgotten that Josie had chosen to sleep in the Longs' apartment as well tonight, hoping she would find safety from the saboteur in numbers. She and Peter raced for Josie's bedroom door, barely sparing a look at the clock.

Chase grabbed Vanessa's hand and yanked her towards the door to the apartment. They heard Nancy and Peter's voices in Josie's room, and a mumble in return. There was an audible click, and their eyes were drawn to the large clock in the center of the room as it turned to 1 o'clock am.

Vanessa felt time cease as she and Chase stood, frozen, their hands on the doorknob. The time was up. The lights flickered slightly, or was it just her imagination? Then, nothing. She breathed an involuntary sigh of relief. Her eyes met Chase's and they both laughed. There was another click- 1:01 am.

The laughter died in their throats.

* * *

Across the street, Frank wasn't asleep either. His brother snored softly in the next bed but Frank was awake and restless. He swung his legs off of the bed and headed to the kitchenette for a glass of water, pacing back and forth as he mulled over the case at hand. He stopped in front of the window and looked across the street at the apartment where Nancy and Vanessa were staying with the Longs. The rooms were all dark and the shades drawn.

Joe stirred in his sleep and Frank turned towards his brother for a moment. When he turned back to the window, he was horrified at the sight in front of him. The windows that had just been dark were filled with hot flickering light- the Longs' apartment was on fire!

* * *

A/N: Another short one, but I hope you liked it. As always, thanks to all my reviewers! Please keep it up! 


	11. We Didn't Start the Fire

Disclaimer: Not mine.

* * *

Frank was still for a moment, staring at the flames in shock. Get a grip, his mind screamed. Snapping into action, he turned to Joe. "Joe! Wake up! Hurry!"

Joe stirred. "Frank, it's like one in the morning."

Frank was already forcing his feet into his sneakers. "The Longs' apartment is on fire, Joe!"

Joe sat up quickly, instantly awake. Within a minute, the brothers were charging down the hall. The elevator to the ground floor seemed to take forever, and the moment the doors opened the boys were out in the street, heading for the door to the burning building. There was a crowd of bystanders watching from the opposite side of the road, and alarms were ringing all around them. Frank knew someone must have called the fire department already.

He and Joe entered the lobby against the flow of panicked residents fleeing the building. Joe started to head for the elevator, but Frank stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "No elevators in a fire."

The boys then headed for the staircase, which was no easy feat as everyone from the upper floors seemed to be coming down in the opposite direction. ("Doesn't anyone use the _fire escape?_" Joe grumbled.) Clinging to the wall, Frank and Joe took the stairs as fast as possible, eyes scanning the crowd for the Long brothers, or, more importantly, Nancy and Vanessa. But there was no sign.

The crowds thinned out drastically as they got closer to the top floor. They were only a floor from the top when they came upon Chase and Vanessa, both looking positively frantic. When Vanessa saw the Hardys, she gave a little cry and flew into Joe's arms. "Thank god." he breathed, rubbing her back.

"Where's Nancy?" Frank demanded.

Chase pointed upstairs. "When the place went up, Peter went back for Josie, and Nancy went back for Peter. She told us to get out, but we didn't want to leave."

"But we couldn't help." Vanessa was close to tears. "It was hard to breathe, and we couldn't see..."

Frank was already on his way up the stairs, his shirt covering his mouth and nose.

Joe gave his girlfriend a gentle push into Chase's arms. "I'll be back in a second." he promised. Vanessa nodded bravely, and Joe turned and ran up the stairs after his brother.

Frank coughed and dropped to his knees as he got to the top of the stairs. The apartment door was open, and thick black smoke was pouring out of it. As quickly as he could, he crawled into the living room. "Nancy!" The room was hot, and the smell of burning fabric filled his nose. He heard a shrill sound, barely audible over the roaring flames- the phone was ringing.

"Let the machine get it!" Joe called up from behind him. Frank rolled his eyes. Only Joe could be a smartass in a burning building.

As he turned the corner, he was astonished to see that the entire hallway that led to the bedrooms was in flames. "Nancy!"

A burning end table collapsed and blocked the hallway as the lamp that was on it shattered into pieces. He heard a cry from the end of the hall- it sounded like Peter! Burning embers fell onto the carpet, searing little brown holes in it, and Frank winced as he accidentally put his hand on one. He swore sharply.

"You okay?" he heard his brother call from behind him.

"Just peachy." he growled back. Taking a deep breath, he stood up and jumped over the table, crashing into a stumbling figure as he landed.

Nancy gasped as they both fell to the ground, then choked on the smoky air. Frank grabbed her hand and pulled her into his arms until she was finished coughing, rubbing her back and shielding her face from the popping sparks.

Meanwhile, Peter had come up behind them, hoisting an unconscious Josie. Joe grabbed the man's shoulder and led him toward the door, and Frank and Nancy followed them out. The minute they were out of the apartment, Joe helped Peter drag Josie down the stairs, and the five of them collapsed at the bottom in a heap, coughing and red-eyed. Chase and Vanessa were waiting.

Peter turned his attention to Josie, who was slowly coming around. Her eyes blinked open. "Pete?" she rasped.

Peter grinned. "Jo, thank god..."

Vanessa suddenly pointed to the staircase. "Guys, I think we'd better split!" Smoke was creeping down the staircase and tongues of flame were following. As they watched, they could feel the air getting thicker and harder to breathe. Chase, Vanessa, Joe, and Frank headed for the down stairs.

Nancy turned to Peter. "Do you need help getting her down?" Josie was on her feet, shaky but still standing.

Peter shrugged, not taking his eyes off the little brunette. "We'll be okay." he lifted her into his arms, bridal style, and she smiled weakly.

"Okay. Let's go." Nancy's eyes flickered between the two for a moment, and then she turned and headed down the stairs after her friends.

The cold air on the lower floors felt amazing after the blistering heat, and Frank breathed a sigh of relief as he and the gang stepped out of the lobby and into the cool, but crowded, streets. Throngs of people were gathered and sirens sounded from every direction. By this point, firetrucks were appearing on the scene and Frank also spotted an ambulance or two, but the paramedics were lost in the crowd. He didn't mind; the burning feeling from the smoke in his lungs would go away eventually, but he worried about Josie, who'd actually passed out up in the penthouse.

And he wasn't the only one concerned about the girl. Peter had set her down on a bus stop bench a few feet away and Chase was looking around for a paramedic for her. When Chase walked off into the crowd, Frank had a good view of Peter and Josie, his arm around her, fussing over her- her smiling, rubbing her eyes, patting his chest and insisting that she was fine. Frank's eyebrows nearly met his hairline as he was hit with a sudden realization: Peter and Josie were in love.

He watched silently as Peter moved closer to Josie, taking her hand and telling her that she'd given him a scare... Josie, businesslike as ever, closed the gap between their faces quickly and gently, pulling away only a few seconds after their lips met. She smiled warmly, and Peter smiled back, and they were lost deep in each other's eyes by the time Chase returned with a paramedic, oxygen tank in tow. The woman handed Josie a mask attached to a tube and instructed her to breathe into it, and Josie did as she was told, holding the mask in one hand and interlocking the fingers of her other hand with Peter's.

Frank looked away guiltily in search of Nancy, to see her reaction. She was standing with Joe and Vanessa a few feet away, oblivious to the whole scene. Frank wasn't sure how she felt about Peter and Josie, or even if she knew. She had certainly given the impression that she felt something for Peter, and the mean part of Frank had wanted her to see the little public display of affection, hoping maybe she would see how it felt to see someone you loved kissing another person. The bigger part of Frank knew it was ridiculous of him to think that, that she was only acting with Peter and even if she wasn't, he would never want her to be hurt that way. _Even if she wasn't acting..._

The thought made Frank sick and he quickly made his way over to his brother and the two girls. Nancy reached out a hand to him. "There you are. Are you okay?"

"Fine." Frank replied, a little coldly. Even so, he couldn't bear to push her hand away as she brushed her fingers fondly over his face, wiping away a smudge of ash, quickly ghosting a thumb over his lips. The gentleness of her fingers made him shiver, and he forced himself to remember that he was upset with her. Quickly, he stepped back, out of her reach. "How are you?" His words took on a formal edge instead of the warm tone she was used to.

"I'll be fine." she murmured. "Lungs full of ash, the usual arson complaints, you know the drill." Neither bothered to smile at her weak joke.

Frank looked around suddenly and realized that Joe and Vanessa had abandoned them to meet up with Chase, Josie, and Peter, who were currently talking to a police officer. He and Nancy joined them, and a paramedic immediately greeted them with oxygen masks for the smoke exposure.

Everyone sat on the bench except Chase and Vanessa. Vanessa stood behind Joe, playing fondly with his hair while she and Chase talked to the police.

"...Then the lights flickered, but nothing else happened, and we thought, maybe it's nothing. But a minute later, we heard this... ripping sound, and the place was just, like, suddenly on fire." Chase was saying. The policeman wrote it down, frowning as if he didn't quite believe them, but motioning them to continue anyway.

"It sounds weird, but it's true." Vanessa added, seeing his doubt. "This wasn't a fire that started little and spread. I don't know how, but all of the sudden it was everywhere. Like it was spreading from multiple places at the same time."

The policeman looked over at her. "And who is this?" he asked Chase, his tone suggesting that he was none too impressed with her.

"Oh." Chase started. "Sorry. This is my girlfriend, Vanessa Blyton. She was with me when it happened." He put his arm around her and she quickly pulled her hands away from Joe, folding them carefully in front of her. She had almost forgotten her cover for a moment.

"I see." said the officer.

The paramedic turned to him. "Sometimes, when people go through things like this, they're traumatized and they remember things differently than the way they actually were. Perhaps it started out as an electrical fire- they did say the lights flickered..."

Vanessa was indignant. "But-!"

The policeman nodded and continued talking to the paramedic as though Vanessa and the gang could not hear him. "I was thinking the same thing. We'll get some teams up there once the fire is out and find out what really happened." He walked away. The medic asked Josie to come along to the ambulance for one more quick health check, so they followed.

Vanessa turned to the group on the bench. "That IS what really happened!"

Frank pulled the oxygen mask away from his face. "We know, Van, but the police don't know about the sabotage, and you have to admit, by itself, it seems unlikely."

Nancy lowered her mask as well. "Now, I didn't see it happen because I was with Josie at the time, but the way you described it made it sound like some kind of timed device."

"You know, I was thinking the same thing." Peter said. By now, he was back undercover and had his arm around Nancy. "It's possible that the saboteur, whoever he is, wired the kitchen clock to the fuse box and programmed it to send a charge through the wiring at a certain time. Once the clock turned that time the circuit would close and the charge would go through the wires and overload our lights, appliances, everything. That surge would probably be enough to start multiple little fires at our outlets and in our walls. That would explain why the lights flickered."

"And it would explain why our floor was the only one that caught fire, and why it did so suddenly." Chase chimed in. "I think you're probably right, Pete."

"Who do we know that had the opportunity and ability to do something like that?" Vanessa asked.

"If it's what we think it is, it's pretty elementary circuitry." Chase replied. "Even someone with the least bit of training could do something like that. Anybody at the lab could- Bert and Kate most definitely included. And probably most people at Silicon as well, the tech people anyway." he sighed and shook his head. "That's clever. And the worst part is, when the fire marshals check it out, they'll probably just attribute it to a blown fuse."

Frank frowned. "You said someone programmed the fused box to send a charge through your system? I don't get it. Where is the charge coming from?"

Peter smiled. "You know something about electricity, eh, Frank? Maybe you've heard of an IER? They're relatively new technology- it's short for Independent Energy Retainer, and what they do is... hoard... energy and then release it when it's needed. Sort of takes the place of a backup generator. But if there's too much stored energy..."

"It can fry your circuitry and start electrical fires?" Frank guessed good naturedly.

"Theoretically, yes." Peter said. "That's why I'm betting we'll find one in our fuse box."

"Does everyone have access to this kind of technology?" Vanessa asked.

"If you pay the right price." Chase shrugged.

"How about this question: who could have gotten into your place to rewire your... wires?" Joe asked, starting strong but trailing off sheepishly.

"Anyone who could have rigged the circuit box could have taken care of the keypad." Frank said. "We've opened locks like that before. If you know what you're doing, it takes half a minute to get the faceplate off, get the door open, and have the pad put back together."

"We need to invest in a watchdog." Chase mumbled to Peter.

"So this narrows down our search exactly... none." Nancy said irritably. She didn't mind the attempts on her life as long as she gained a lead from it, but she tended to get cranky when a near-death experience left her in the dark.

"Josie." Peter said, looking her in the eye.

She shook her head. "Sorry, Peter, but she technically still could have done it."

"She almost died in there!"

"But she didn't."

"She passed out!"

Nancy sighed. "She could have been faking. Listen, personally, I don't think its her, but it still _could_ be, so we just have to keep an open mind."

This seemed to please Peter enough to drop it.

* * *

It was four in the morning before the fire was out, the building declared safe, and Peter and Chase got the all-clear to leave the site. It was decided, for convenience, that they should check into the hotel across the street. They procured a three-bedroom suite- one for Chase and Vanessa, one for Nancy and Peter, and one for Josie. Once the manager was gone, Nancy and Vanessa crawled into one bed and Chase and Peter took the other.

It was a little after noon when Peter awoke with a start. He got out of bed and walked into the little kitchen. Nobody else was awake. They had all had a hard night and he knew everyone was exhausted, but he could feel the growing sense of urgency to solve this case, and soon. Someone had set his home on fire last night, and today was the last day before their big unveiling. This was it.

He peered in on the girls, all of them sleeping soundly, and wondered if he should wake them. Deciding to give them another few minutes, he ventured up six floor to where the Hardys were staying to see if they were up yet.

Frank answered the door when he heard the soft knocking. He was a little surprised to see Peter at the door, looking tired and confused. He wasn't sure that this was he time or place for the things he had to say... With a glance at the bathroom door where Joe could be heard showering, Frank took a hold of Peter's arm and brought him into the room.

"Peter, I'm glad you're here. I want to talk to you..."

* * *

A/N: As always, this one's for my reviewers. Thanks so much to all of you. And don't forget to leave a review for this chapter: questions, comments, criticism... all appreciated. 


	12. Double Teamed

Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N: Hey everyone, sorry about the long wait while I was on vacation. And thanks so much to anyone who gave me a review. This chapter isn't as long as I would have liked, but I figured even a short chapter was better than nothing. Hope you like!

---

Everyone watched from their seats as Nancy appeared in the living room in her semi-casual flowered skirt and sky-blue top. She would have looked gorgeous if not for the nervous frown on her face. "This dinner thing had better pan out." she murmured. "Because if Bert's not involved then this is time we can't afford to waste."

"Although if that's the case at least you'll get a free meal." Joe quipped.

Nancy rolled her eyes. "No amount of free food could make spending time with this jerk worth it."

"Well, it's only a few hours and it'll be over soon." Frank offered, not feeling especially sympathetic toward Nancy at the moment. His little talk with Peter had left him questioning her more than ever.

Vanessa eyed her friend critically. "Nan, you must realize those shoes don't match the dress..."

Nancy looked down at the navy flats on her feet. "I know, but if I end up having to run away I'd rather not be wearing heels."

Despite himself, Frank had to smile at Nancy's foresight-_ that_ was the girl he had fallen for. "Bert won't notice."

"I wouldn't have noticed." Joe said.

Nancy had to laugh at the pained expression Vanessa shot her.

"You see what I put up with?"

---

"Why are we back at Silicaid, again?" Vanessa sighed to Joe as the van pulled into the parking lot. It was past normal office hours and only a few cars remained in the lot. "Shouldn't we be watching Nancy?"

Joe pulled into a parking spot and turned off the engine. "She'll be fine. Peter and Frank are tailing her and Bert and he's no match for them."

"So what's the plan here?" Chase asked, poking his head up from the backseat.

Joe shrugged. "I figure we play it by ear, but I do know one thing- we should talk to Leedon."

There was a knock on the passenger side window. A balding man of average height and build was peering in.

Recovering from the momentary start, Vanessa looked at Joe and, at his nod, rolled down the window. "Can we help you?" she began.

The man raised his dark eyebrows. "I was just noticing that you kids don't work here. What are you-" he stopped suddenly as he saw Chase in the backseat. "Why, Mr. Long." His face took on a more pleasant expression. "What are you doing here?"

Chase cleared his throat nervously. "Well, I'm not here to accept your job offer, if that's what you're thinking... Mr. Leedon."

Joe and Vanessa were startled. They had never seen or spoken to the man, so they had not recognized him as the man they came to see.

Leedon's face darkened and the ordinary-looking man suddenly became quite menacing. "I was afraid of that." he said. He raised his hand so that a tiny revolver could be seen in his palm, and it was aimed at Joe.

"I was afraid of that..." Joe groaned.

---

"Where are they going now?" Peter muttered from behind the wheel of the rental car. He and Frank had followed Nancy and Bert to the restaurant, and it had been a trying experience- for Frank especially- to watch Bert exercise his slimy wiles on Nancy. Now, to make things worse, Nancy was in Bert's car again, and they were driving out of New York City.

"How should I know?" Frank snapped, trying to keep calm. He took a deep breath.

"I knew this was a bad idea." Peter said. "Nancy's going to get hurt."

"It's not your job to worry about Nancy, remember?" Frank was practically growling, his resolution to stay calm failing miserably. "You know what was a bad idea? Letting you drive. If you keep going like this, he's going to see you. Slow down!" _This wasn't him at all,_ Frank thought suddenly. _Losing his cool during a case and taking out his frustration on the wrong person... _He took another breath and apologized. "Okay, sorry. Just drop back a few cars and keep your eye on them."

Peter eased up on the gas. "Sorry...This road leads out of the city..."

Frank frowned. "Does Bert live outside the city?"

"I don't think so..." Peter answered, considering. "Although that would explain why he has a car. If you live in the city it's usually easier to take a subway than deal with traffic."

"So you think he's taking her to his house?" Frank asked.

Peter shrugged. "I don't see where else they would be going..."

---

"Where are we going?" Nancy asked, anxiety creeping into her voice as Bert's car sped past the city limits.

"Don't you worry. We'll be there in a few minutes." Bert replied, shooting her a sly smile that might have been an attempt at coy.

"To your place?" Nancy asked. She hoped Frank and Peter were still following them, because she wasn't sure she'd be able to fend Bert off if he tried anything.

"You know, asking a lot of questions tends to get people in hot water... Miss Drew." Bert said, with a glance over to see her reaction to her name.

"What do you mean?" Nancy played the dumb card. Simultaneously, one hand found her seatbelt catch, and the other the car door release, ready to leap out if she needed to.

"You heard me." Bert said, leering across the car at her.

Nancy yanked hard on the door release and pushed, but nothing happened. Bert gestured to the driver's side control panel. "I control the locks. Don't bother. And don't do anything stupid like try to attack me." A loaded handgun appeared in his left hand while he kept his right on the steering wheel.

Nancy automatically shrank away from the gun. "What are you going to do with me?"

"Why, nothing." Bert answered. "...Until we get rid of our pursuers."

Nancy's eyes widened and she looked in the side mirror. Frank and Peter's rental was only two cars behind them. She was helpless as Bert sped up, quickly turning onto a side street and then turning again. When she looked in the mirror again, her friends were nowhere in sight.

---

A/N: Sorry about the double cliffie... And for some reason the divider lines aren't working for me... oh well. Anyway, please review! It really means a lot.


	13. Literal Toast

A/N: So sorry for the late update. Life's been a bear lately. Plus I got sucked into another fandom and then had my laptop break on me... Well, here it is. I rather like it and I hope you think it was worth the wait!

Disclaimer: Not claiming anything.

* * *

Frank was dialing his cell phone frantically. "Joe's not picking up." he said tensely. "Any sign of Bert and Nancy?"

Peter gripped the wheel tightly. "No, man. I'm sorry- they shook us." His eyes scanned the dark industrial neighborhood for Bert's car but found an eerie absence of people this late in the evening.

"Vanessa's not answering either." Frank groaned.

"You think-?"

"I don't know!" Frank answered exasperatedly.

Peter took his eyes off the road to glance at Frank's shadowy profile. "Listen, Frank. Whatever your problem is with me, we can deal with it later. I've been honest with you about me and Nancy, I think-" he cut himself off. "Is that...?"

Frank followed his gaze to the car parked on the side of the road. "Bert's car!"

Peter pulled over the rental under the cover of a nearby tree and the two boys got out, approaching the car slowly. "No way." Peter murmured. "That's just too easy."

"Yeah," Frank agreed grimly. He peered through the darkened windows- no sign of either Nancy or Bert. "It's gotta be a trap."

"Maybe they just went somewhere else- it's not like we know he, you know, technically, kidnapped her..." Peter suggested.

Frank shot him a look. "Most guys bring their dates to a movie after dinner- _not_ a huge, dark warehouse." he snapped, gesturing at the building behind him.

"Stoneridge." Peter whispered.

"What?" Frank turned around and checked out the warehouse more thoroughly. Sure enough, the name of the company was clearly displayed- Stoneridge Industries. "What is going on here?"

"Yeah, I thought Silicaid was the one we were after." Peter murmured, his eyes narrowed with thought.

Frank was systematically scanning the building for an entrance. "Forget that- we have to get in that building."

* * *

"Ugh!" Vanessa gasped as she was shoved into a small, dark room after Joe and Chase. 

Chase caught her elegantly while Joe stared at their captor in defiance. "Leedon, you won't get away with this."

The businessman shrugged, the gun in his hand never veering from its target of Joe's chest. "Please, spare me your crime fighting clichés. Not only will I get away with this, but the police may never find your bodies." he said grimly. "And Chase- you can feel extra good about your part in this. Now not only have you doomed yourself and your brother, but the four nice private detectives you brought into this mess."

Chase only glared at him.

Despite the situation, Vanessa felt a surge of pride at being considered one of the detectives. Sometimes she felt she'd been Joe's 'damsel in distress' for so long that it was about time she was acknowledged as valuable in her own right. Of course, it would have felt better had this revelation been made at say, Mr. Pizza, and not here, where it would be so short-lived. In all senses of the term.

The door slammed shut and the room was plunged into almost total darkness as a key sounded in the lock. The only light came from a tiny, barred window looking out into the moonlit night. Joe tried the locked door anyway before turning his attention to the clearly-impenetrable window.

There was a rustling in the corner, and then a meek whisper. "Joe?"

Everyone swung to face the female voice. Sure enough, a young woman was curled into the corner, blonde hair tangled, knees pressed to her chest in a sort of upright fetal position. Joe crossed to her and knelt beside her. "Beverly! Are you alright?"

"I don't know." the shivering girl confessed. "I'm just... freezing and scared. My boss, he-"

"We know." Joe said soothingly, working off his jacket. It was cold in the damp storeroom. "I'm so sorry you got involved in this." he draped the jacket around her and she smiled gratefully.

Vanessa watched the exchange with a vaguely bitter taste in her mouth. Sometimes Joe just... she sighed, then turned to Chase as his fingers closed over hers in the dark.

"I'm sorry _you_ got involved in this too." he whispered to her.

She squeezed his fingers gently. "Forget what Leedon said." she told him softly. "This isn't your fault or Peter's- it's Leedon's, and this is our job. We'll get out of this. We've gotten out of worse. Trust me."

All of the sudden, Joe was at their side, eyes focused pointedly on their clasped hands. Chase started to pull away, but Vanessa, in a moment of stubbornness, did not let go. "Have a plan, Joe?" she asked calmly.

"Presently, no." Joe said stiffly. "The door is locked, probably bolted, too. And solid, thick wood. It would take forever to break down even if we had some sort of tools. And even if we somehow managed to break the glass and get the bars out of the window, it's too small for any of us to fit through, except maybe Beverly."

"But even if we could get her out, we have no idea where we are. We could just be putting her into more danger." Vanessa pointed out.

Before anyone could say another word, the bolt slid back and the door was opened by Leedon, still armed. He pointed the gun at Vanessa. "Sorry to interrupt your little chat, but if you don't hurry, you'll be late for the party!" He beckoned to Vanessa. "Come here, dear."

Her heart was pounding so hard she knew everyone could hear it, but Vanessa swallowed and stood her ground.

Leedon's finger tightened on the trigger and Joe leaned over and gave his girlfriend a hard push toward the criminal. Leedon caught her, spinning her around so her back was to him and then snaking an arm around her neck in a choke hold. "Wise decision." he sneered at Joe before shoving his gun to her temple.

Joe prayed he had made the right decision and dropped his gaze to the ground, unable to stand the look of hurt and betrayal in Vanessa's eyes.

"Okay now." Leedon said. "I want you all to come with me. And if you even think about running, the girl dies."

At his direction, Joe, Chase, and Beverly filed out before Leedon, winding their way though the corridors until they reached a large room where hundreds of boxes of computer equipment were stacked upon one another in huge piles, waiting for trucks to come and ship them to their destinations.

As they neared the center of the room, Joe saw something that made his heart sink into his stomach. "Oh man..."

Peter and Frank were on the floor, sitting on their hands.

"You said it." Nancy choked out, rolling her eyes at Joe as best she could with Bert Rainier's arm around her neck and his gun pressed to her temple.

"Sit down." Leedon instructed the boys and Beverly. "Hands under your butts, just like that. Not too close together. Yeah. Remember, any funny business and blondie here is toast."

"This one too." Bert added, gesturing to Nancy with his gun.

Joe sat next to Frank in the indicated position. "So, are these guys trying to kill us or just scamming on our girls?" he quipped.

"Cute." Leedon said coldly.

Nancy gagged as the arm around her throat tightened momentarily. "Okay, that's it." she gasped. "You can forget about a second date!" She was testing Bert's volatility and they all knew it.

Bert looked at Leedon. "You want me to ice her?"

Leedon shrugged. "Go ahead."

The room was silent, except for a single quiet, dangerous syllable from Frank. "Don't."

Bert looked stunned. "I..." his panicked expression made it obvious that he'd been bluffing. "You know..."

Leedon cut him off with a cold tone. "Shut up, you incompetent." Suddenly he released Vanessa's neck and signaled for Bert to do the same with Nancy. Once the girls were standing side by side, he gestured to a pile of ropes off to the side. "Now tie up your boyfriends... both sets of them."

Vanessa groaned. "What is this, open mic night at the comedy club?" But Leedon's gun was still leveled at her, and she did as he said, grabbing a few lengths of rope and kneeling behind Joe.

She had just looped the rope around his wrists, gently, tentatively, when Leedon added, "And make it tight, girls. Anyone's not secure and I'll just shoot them. I have no qualms, I assure you."

Vanessa glanced at Nancy, who was quickly, confidently tying Peter's wrists. Her firm, efficient knots were evidence that she had practice with this sort of thing.

Practice that Vanessa did not have. She suddenly found herself shaking violently- if her knots weren't good enough, Joe would be shot right now, in front of her, while there was so much she had to say to him-

"Hurry up!" Leedon barked, watching her near-breakdown. "If you can't tie a few simple knots, a bullet to the brain is just as effective at keeping them from running." Vanessa's breathing became shaky and uneven, and she was fighting back tears.

Nancy noticed. By now she had moved on to Peter's ankles. "Like this." she mouthed to her friend, tying the knot slowly so that Vanessa could see how it was done. At the end she yanked the ends of the rope to tighten the knot and Peter winced, but all she could do was give him an apologetic look.

Vanessa took a deep breath and tried to focus back on the rope in her hands. Joe's hand found her knee and rubbed it reassuringly. He turned his head back to murmur to her, "It's okay, baby. We'll be fine. Just do your best and don't worry about us- we can take it."

Vanessa swallowed hard. "I... Joe..."

"Take both ends of the rope and loop one around the other." Joe instructed under his breath.

Suddenly Nancy was beside her, working on Frank's wrists. She demonstrated the knot again and Vanessa copied her. "Good." Nancy nodded. "Just a little tighter."

Vanessa pulled on the ropes with all her strength and Nancy nodded again. For Vanessa's benefit, neither Hardy flinched.

The girls moved on to the Hardys' ankles and then Vanessa tied Chase and Nancy tied Beverly while their captors watched with amusement. Finally, Nancy tied Vanessa and Bert tied Nancy.

"That's better." Leedon said with satisfaction, looking around at the seven immobile figures on the floor. "Nice knots, girls." he grabbed onto the ropes binding Frank's hands and yanked. Frank hissed in pain, but the ropes didn't budge. "Very nice. Tight."

"Yes, well, thanks." Nancy said angrily, concerned eyes locked on Frank.

"So what are you gonna do with us now?" Joe challenged.

"Glad you asked." Leedon said meanly. "I was actually thinking I'd set the place on fire."

"You know, dozens of boxes of floppy disks don't burn as well as you'd think." Chase remarked.

"My friend, anything burns well if you've got enough gasoline." Leedon said. He nodded at Bert, who disappeared behind a stack of boxes and emerged a momentarily with several gallons of gasoline.

"Okay, you're not my friend." Chase said, looking at the containers of flammable liquid nervously.

"Yeah, 'cause friends don't set friends on fire." Joe spoke up.

"Shut up." Leedon muttered. Bert began pouring the gasoline over the boxes.

"So, another fire. That seems to be your preferred method of ruining our lives." Peter remarked bitterly. "First our office, then our apartment..."

"Fires are convenient because they burn all the evidence right up." Leedon said with a chuckle. "Bert was the one who turned on the sprinklers and lit the fire in your office. Oh, and, funny story about the fire in your home... when we went to set up the timed power outage-slash-fire, the energy-skimming device was already planted in your fuse box... we just upped the voltage a bit."

Peter snorted. "Why would you lie about something like that? We've never used one of those in our wiring."

"Well it was there." Leedon said.

Nancy and Vanessa shared a confused glance. It certainly seemed like he was telling the truth... why _would _he lie about that? Was there _more_ he wasn't responsible for?

"Were you also the ones who made the threatening phone calls and notes and sent the photographer after us?" Nancy asked.

"And locked me in that closet?" Vanessa added. "And you're obviously responsible for kidnapping Beverly."

Leedon's brow furrowed. "I don't know what photographer you're talking about, and we never locked anyone in a closet."

"I happen to think you're lying." Peter said.

"Well, I'm not, but quite frankly, it doesn't matter what you think." Leedon said. "Because in a few minutes, you'll all, literally, be toast, and Silicaid Corporations will be back on top."

"By burning down your own warehouse?" Joe asked snarkily.

Leedon laughed. "Look closer at those boxes, kid. This isn't a Silicaid warehouse."

"It belongs to Stoneridge Industries." Frank explained to his brother. "Very nice, Leedon. Getting rid of the Longs and hurting business for Stoneridge all in one easy fire."

"Killing two birds with one _stone_, if you'll pardon the pun." Leedon nodded with a smile.

"Ugh." Joe groaned. "Bad puns."

"Yeah, those are your domain, right Joe?" Nancy said flatly. Joe just gave her a look.

"It's too bad that, even with all that gasoline, it's not enough to destroy a huge warehouse like this." Frank said.

"Maybe not by itself." Leedon agreed. "But come on, we want this fire to look like an accident. We're going to break a few pipes, make it out to be a gas leak fire." he smiled. "And it will be, partially."

"So you're not even going to give us a fighting chance?" Joe asked.

Leedon shook his head. "Why would I do that? Well, I'd like to say I'll see you later, but..." He and Bert turned and started walking away. "Oh, wait. Almost forgot."

And with that, he threw a lit match into a nearby puddle of gasoline.

* * *

A/N: So...? Please leave me a review and I'll do my best not to leave you hanging too long! 


	14. Great Escape

A/N: Okay everyone, sorry for the long wait. Entirely my fault. I finally got a new chapter up, and if it makes anyone feel better, the next chapter is already half done. So... hopefully I'll have the next update up much quicker.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

* * *

Frank flinched back as the large puddle of gasoline went up in a flash of hot light. He snuck a look around at his companions. Large tears streamed down Beverly's face as she stared at the fire in shock. Next to her, Nancy, Vanessa, Chase, and Joe were struggling with their bindings. On his other side, Peter was looking around frantically for an exit route. Frank twisted his fingers and felt his own ropes, but he could tell immediately that it was useless. Nancy knew how to tie a knot, and she had tied his tightly.

"Peter!" Nancy shouted over the rapidly spreading flames. "Your knots should come loose! Pull on the long end!"

Peter gasped in amazement as he obeyed and his ropes fell limply to the ground. His ankles came loose similarly."How'd you do that?" he yelled back, already at work on Chase's knots.

"I know a few tricks." Nancy replied with a cough. The air was thickening with a sickening mixture of acrid smoke and natural gas from the pipes. Looking toward the pipes, she saw the seemingly random bursts of flame where the gas was leaking out and she knew it was only a matter of minutes before the metal overheated enough to explode, and take the whole building with it.

By now both Peter and Chase were at work freeing people, and the heat around them was blistering. As soon as Vanessa was loose, she ran to the wall and pulled the fire alarm, pulling her hand back quickly from the heated plastic. A loud bell sounded throughout the building. Beverly started to sob, her deep heaving breaths punctuated by coughs. Vanessa ran to her and fumbled with her bound hands. "Maybe the fire department will come, Beverly. Beverly, stay with us. Don't go into shock. We have to concentrate on getting out." As she talked, her throat burned with the oily smoke, but she had to try to keep the tiny girl lucid.

Joe knelt by her and took over at the knots. "Get out of here!" he yelled.

"How?" Vanessa screamed back.

Chase took Nancy's newly-freed hand and helped her up. Luckily, the warehouse had a high ceiling and there was no need to crawl to get oxygen just yet. "Let's go, let's go, let's go!"

"Wait!" Peter gasped. "Frank- I can't get his knots undone!"

Nancy turned back, eyes widening. She had tied the knots. If he couldn't get free... She pushed Peter out of the way and knelt by her boyfriend. "You guys go!" she commanded.

Joe broke from the group and headed back to Nancy and Frank. "No way!" he said grimly.

Tears burned in Vanessa's eyes, but she turned away from the group, guiding Beverly and Chase in the direction of the door. _Those three..._ Well, having a hero complex wouldn't help any of them now... Just to her left a large stack of boxes exploded into flame and she screamed. Chase grabbed her shoulder and pulled her in the other direction, swatting at the embers on her shirt with his hand. A giant twisted hunk of white-hot metal fell in front of them, showering the group with hot sparks. They were trapped!

Suddenly a slight hissing could be heard and a shower of white foam smothered some of the flames around them. When the air cleared, the figure of Josie could be seen, wielding a now-empty fire extinguisher. "Josie!" Peter shouted.

The little brunette looked even tinier standing in the lit doorway, smoke in her hair and clothes. "There's no more foam!" she screamed at the group. "Hurry up!"

Once they were out of the burning room they found the outside quickly and crossed the street, collapsing on the cool green lawn in the dark. Vanessa looked around at their little group and her heart sank. Peter, Chase, Beverly, Josie, and herself. That was all.

* * *

Nancy tried to remain calm as she sat by Frank's side, but the panic welling within her made that difficult. Flames crackled all around her, dwarfing the three detectives, and she knew they would be engulfed any minute now...

"Frank!" Joe cried out in warning.

Frank was startled at being suddenly pinned to the ground- by his girlfriend. "Nan?"

She was breathing heavily. "Your back was on fire!" Their eyes met for a moment only, but it felt like a connection.

They sat up and Frank found, to his amazement, that the flames had weakened the ropes and he could now snap them easily. He did so, vaulting up and grabbing Joe's and Nancy's hands. "What are we waiting for?"

Nancy laughed in utter relief before doubling over in a fit of coughing. Frank tugged her along, pulling them the same direction Vanessa and the others had gone off in. "Hold on, Nan. We're close." he rasped. But he had no idea where to go... where were they? How much longer did they have?

"Joe!" A voice was calling somewhere. "Oh my God! Joe!!"

Joe's head snapped up. "Van!" Immediately he steered his brother and Nancy in the direction of her voice.

She was there, not far from the door, beating down flames with a charred and wet sweater, eyes wild. As soon as she saw him she ran to him, throwing her arms around him. "Joe!"

He just scooped her up around the waist and guided them all through the doorway, slamming the hot metal doors behind them. The crashing and crackling of the burning room was muffled and they all collapsed in the cooler corridor, scrambling away from the door on their hands and knees and gasping for breath.

"We have to get out of here!" Frank was gasping. "Those pipes... this place is a ticking time bomb."

As quickly as their abused bodies could move, the group dragged themselves outside to join the others. Sirens sounded in the distance and Joe was suddenly filled with relief. It was starting to look like no one would die today.

Vanessa lifted her ash-streaked face and Joe could clearly see tear tracks winding their way through the black smudges. "Van..."

She buried her head in his chest. "I had to come back for you guys. I don't care if you're mad." She was trying not to show how afraid she'd been- she was one of the detectives now.

He gave her shoulders a squeeze, fighting a smile at her defiance. "I'm not." he took the wet cloth from her hand and tried to wipe the ash from her face, only succeeding in smearing it around.

Back on the street, Peter and Josie were leaned against a tree, barely breaking eye contact in the darkness. "Jo, what are you doing here?" Peter murmured, finally recovered from the smoke enough to talk.

"I followed you." she whispered. "I saw Bert take you and Frank inside with the gun! And then Bert and some other guy came out and drove away so I called the cops and then I saw the smoke and I wanted to come in and help you... oh Pete..." She started to cry.

Peter reached out to touch her cheek and their eyes locked again, her shoulders still shaking with sobs.

Nearby, Nancy was gingerly examining the reddening burns on Frank's back. His t-shirt had burned away completely in some places and the skin beneath it was hot and tender. Nancy winced. "Oh, Frank... this is going to hurt so much once the adrenaline rush goes away. These look bad."

Frank let out a long sigh. "It could have been so much worse."

Nancy smiled ruefully. "We'll see how you feel about that come tomorrow morning."

Her voice, like everyone else's, was raw and raspy from smoke inhalation. Frank pulled her into a hug. "What about you? Are you okay?"

"I've been worse." Nancy said with a wry smile. The smile faded as she looked at him. "God, Frank, I am so sorry. About all of this..." she trailed off when he did not seem to be listening.

Frank had turned away from her to see the approaching rescue vehicles. Several paramedics and firefighters ran towards the group, and Nancy knew that the important things she had to say to him must wait until later. Again. Always later.

"Is everybody okay?" "What happened here?" The colorful lights and sirens of the firetrucks and ambulances dominated the scene, and the group slowly clustered around the new arrivals.

Frank headed toward their rescuers, but turned back to Nancy at the last second, grabbing her by the hand.

"We'll talk later?" Nancy guessed.

"Later." he confirmed resignedly. He took a second to look at her, the red-blonde hair escaping its ponytail, the once-dainty now-singed, smudged, and bloody skirt, the smoke-reddened blue eyes that made it look like she was crying... "I love you." he added.

She squeezed his hand. "Thank you."

It sounded cold, but Frank knew she was just relieved.

* * *

A/N: I know, not terribly long, but a chapter is a chapter, right? Anyway, please review! I really do value and appreciate all your opinions. 


	15. The Final Culprit

A/N: Just when you thought I'd packed it in for good- another update! I keep thinking: this is the last chapter, this is the last chapter... but it never is. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys.

* * *

A wave of applause swept the room as Peter finished his lengthy speech and stepped down from the podium. Chase stepped up to talk next. "Well, I think my brother pretty much covered it," he started, and a few people chuckled. "So I'll get right down to it. Thanks to all our investors, friends, and employees for being here. Sometimes I thought this day would never come." he winked down at Vanessa, who was standing near the front of the audience, and she grinned and nodded in agreement. "But now that it has, I would like to propose a toast- to everyone who helped make this possible. To LongGen Industries!" he raised his glass and the room followed.

Nancy snatched a glass of champagne from a passing waiter and clinked it with Joe's and Vanessa's. "To LongGen!" she repeated.

"To getting the bad guys!" Joe replied with a smile.

"To being a detective!" Vanessa added.

The group laughed.

"What's so funny?"

Suddenly Chase Long appeared in their little circle. Vanessa gave him a hug. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks." he replied. "You know, guys, I really did mean it. Without you, I probably wouldn't be alive right now. So, on behalf of me and my brother ... thanks."

Nancy also gave him a hug. "It's what we do." she said easily.

"And it's a good thing too." Chase said. "Not only did you save our lives, our invention, and our company, but thanks to you, Bert and Leedon are awaiting trial, and Beverly's back with her family..."

Joe searched the crowd for the aforementioned secretary. When she spotted him, she smiled and waved. He waved back. "That's good." he said. "And I'm glad the police were able to get Leedon and Bert before they left the city- after that warehouse fire, we were in no shape to be chasing them down."

Nancy shook her head. "Well, Bert was getting nervous, but Leedon was so sure we were taken care of that he just went home."

"Back to his apartment?" Vanessa asked. "Is that where they arrested him?"

"You bet." Chase affirmed with a nod.

"Crazy..." Vanessa muttered.

Joe held up one finger. "And that is why it doesn't pay to be cocky." he said.

Nancy rolled her eyes. "Oh, please." she snorted.

"What?" Joe said with a frown. "Are you implying something about my character?"

"You said it, not me." Nancy teased back, raising her palms. Everyone laughed. Nancy backed out of the circle. "On that note, I've got something to do... I'll see you guys later."

Joe raised an eyebrow. "Never took you for a mingler, Nan." he said, knowing exactly where she was going.

She grinned. "I am a social butterfly, my friend. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got things to do, people to see..." She turned away from her friends as the conversation continued without her. As she headed for the doors, she took note of how beautifully the hotel ballroom had been done up for the occasion. And what a crowd had shown up! The Longs' announcement certainly seemed to be a success...

So lost in her thoughts was she that she literally bumped into a familiar, dark-haired figure. He turned around, adjusting his horn-rimmed glasses. "Whoa there, pretty lady."

Nancy smiled. "Sorry, Peter. I guess I was paying too much attention to the party and not enough to my immediate pathway."

"Well, since you did come all the way to New York to save the day, I guess I can forgive you." he answered, mock-grudgingly.

Josie appeared from behind Peter, wrapping an arm around his waist as he pulled her to his side. "Hey Nancy." she said brightly.

"Hi." Nancy replied with a smile. Josie had become a lot friendlier towards Nancy once she realized that Peter wasn't actually dating her. It didn't hurt that he had confessed his feelings for Josie, either. "Speaking of saving the day," she said to Peter. "You should be looking at_ her_, not me." To Josie, she added, "I don't think I ever thanked you for following us to the warehouse."

"And calling 911." Peter put in.

"In fact, its probably thanks to you that the police caught Bert and Leedon in time." Nancy finished with a nod.

Josie blushed, hesitating before she replied. "I did it for kind of selfish reasons... I... well, I was jealous, and I followed you... Geez, Pete, I was so afraid you would die and I would never get to tell you..."

Peter put a finger to her lips and brushed his own over her forehead. "Shh... Don't think about it, Jo. I felt the same way about you." He turned his eyes to Nancy. "...And I think Nancy knows the feeling too."

Nancy shivered. "Yeah." The most horrible feeling in the world. "You know... I've gotta go. I'll see you two later?"

"Sounds good." Peter said, not taking his eyes off the brunette tucked beneath his arm.

As Nancy headed off, she looked down at the half-full champagne glass in her hand. Decisively, she grabbed a full glass off a tray before leaving the ballroom.

Balancing the two glasses in one hand and her purse under the other elbow, Nancy inserted the key card into the lock and pushed. She discarded her purse and made straight for the bedroom. Frank was lying on his stomach on the bed, reading a book. When he saw her he tossed it aside. "Hey."

"Hey" she said. "How's your back?" The burns Frank had sustained in the warehouse fire had been bad enough to warrant an overnight stay in the hospital, where the doctors had given him pain medication for the blistering skin and also for the slight fever he'd developed. All considered, they all thought it would be best for Frank to skip the party today.

"A lot better. I don't notice until I bump it on something." Frank said ruefully, carefully sitting upright.

Nancy sat on the side of the bed. "Don't notice?" she repeated. "What kind of painkillers did they put you on anyway?"

"Good ones." Frank said with a laugh. "How's the party?"

"It's going well." Nancy answered. "A lot of people showed up. Chase and Peter are really happy. I think it's gonna be a success." She held out the second glass to him. "Speaking of the party, I brought you this."

Frank downed it and made a face. "Not champagne."

Nancy grinned, taking the empty cider glass and placing it beside hers on the bedside table. "You're on medication, remember?"

"You could've warned me!"

"You didn't give me a chance!"

"Alright." Frank conceded. He scooted closer to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "Thanks for thinking of me, Nan."

Nancy felt a sudden uneasiness. He _was_ being serious, wasn't he? Or did he mean something else? "Frank..."

"Uh oh." Frank said, hearing her tone. "Is it time to talk?"

"What? I...We... could wait until the painkillers wear off?" she offered lamely.

"I think we'd better do it now." Frank replied dryly. "I might need them."

Was he serious _now?_ Nancy couldn't tell. "Are you angry at me? About Peter, and the rest of this whole mess?"

"Not really." Frank said. "I mean, it's not that... I just..."

She looked up into his face and understood hat he was trying to say. "It's because you trust me, right?"

He nodded. "Of course I do. Look, I didn't like seeing you with Peter, and I was a little disappointed you didn't call and tell me about the case. But I was never worried about us... we have something, Nan."

"I know we do." Nancy murmured. The warm, bubbly, Frank-Hardy anxiety was starting to come back, no matter how ridiculous it was. "I'm still sorry. I should have told you..."

"I'll be happy to hear it now." Frank said with a smile.

"Okay." She looped her arms around his neck. "I love you."

Unable to help himself any longer, he leaned in and captured her lips with his.

She smiled as they separated. "Also, I'm going to New York to pose as the girlfriend of an inventor in order to catch a saboteur."

Frank laughed at her joke. "Seriously, Nancy. I don't want you to feel like you need my permission or anything. I just... would like to be able to avoid this kind of misunderstanding in the future. And I want to have your back when you're going into these things."

"I know." she said. "From now on. I promise. And the same goes for you."

"Deal."

Frank put his arms around her, but before he could kiss her again he grimaced in pain. Nancy saw this and sprang away from him. "Your back! I'm sorry!"

"Not your fault." Frank groaned.

Nancy guided him back down onto the bed. "It kind of is..." she said hesitantly. "If I hadn't tied the ropes so tight..."

"Forget it, Nan, there was nothing you could do." Frank relaxed a little as the burning began to subside. "I told you that. Besides, it was your fancy knot tricks that let Peter get free."

"I couldn't take that risk with you." Nancy blurted.

"What?"

She hung her head. "I made sure yours were tight so if they checked they wouldn't shoot you."

Frank almost smiled. He had wondered why Peter's ropes were so loose when his own were so tight, but now it made sense to him. "I would have done the same thing for you." he said gently. "They didn't shoot Peter. Don't worry about it."

Nancy felt a little less guilty. She changed the subject. "How are you doing? Do you need some water? Do you want help changing the bandage?"

Frank caught her hand as she reached for the dressings. "I think redressing wounds is more a second anniversary activity..."

Nancy rolled her eyes as he tugged on her hand, pulling her down to his level for a kiss. Seconds later, however, a knock at the door had them jumping apart.

"Everyone decent?"

"Ha, ha, Joe." Frank said dryly. "I think you're okay to come in."

Joe entered, Vanessa trailing behind him. "Thought I'd find you here Nancy." he began. "Hey Frank. How's the back?"

"I've been worse, thanks." Frank replied.

"Hey Nan, Peter asked us to come up and remind you that dinner's starting in fifteen minutes. You don't want to be late."

"Thanks Joe." Nancy got off the bed gently. "Will you be okay here, Frank? I'll stay if you'd rather..."

Frank shook his head. "No, go on."

Vanessa inclined her head sympathetically. "Poor Frank. What have you been doing all day?"

"Oh, you know... reading, sleeping..." Frank began, then ended with a grin. "Oh, and figuring out who our other saboteur was, now that you mention it."

"Frank!" Nancy reprimanded. "Why didn't you say something before?"

Frank shrugged. "I don't think there's much chance of this person making a run for it."

Joe sank into a chair. "Uh-oh. Did you hear that? 'This person'. He's going to make us guess."

Frank rolled his eyes. "No I'm not. Just think for a minute."

Joe let out a sigh of suffering.

Nancy and Vanessa exchanged amused glances. Frank did have the habit of withholding his conclusions until he'd explained the reasoning... and it drove Joe up the wall with impatience.

"Okay, consider the attacks that Leedon and Bert haven't confessed to." Frank continued. He counted them off on his fingers. "The photographer who followed us. Locking Vanessa in the closet. The energy-storing device in the Longs' fuse box. And don't forget the mysterious call Josie took with the warning to "back off.""

His friends nodded their acknowledgment, each trying to make a mental connection between the attacks.

Frank paused for a moment before going on. "Now I'll admit, the fuse box threw me for a while, and the threatening call could have gone either way- Leedon or our mystery saboteur- but if you think of the closet and the photographer, _especially the first run-in_, you see a clear connection..." He waited expectantly for someone to voice it.

"...Is it...me?" Vanessa hazarded a reluctant guess.

Frank beamed at her. "Exactly. We were assuming that Vanessa was locking in that closet simply because the saboteur seized an opportunity to scare one of us. But I thought, what if this person was after Vanessa specifically? We also assumed that the photographer was following all of us, but what if it was only Vanessa, and we just happened to be there?"

Nancy shook her head. "Yeah, but what about the phone call, and the fuse box? Those weren't attacks on Vanessa specifically."

"Or were they?" Frank countered. "Remember how the phone call Josie took warned Chase and Peter to "back off" and they didn't understand... what were they supposed to back off _of?_ Let's just say the threat was directed at Vanessa, and Josie just misinterpreted the message in her fear... And as for the fuse box, it was originally wired just to shut off the power, not start a fire. Joe and I even heard the phone ring while we were in the burning apartment. Another phone call from our mystery person, wondering if their scare tactic had worked... on Vanessa?"

Vanessa shivered. "Isn't that taking things a little too far, Frank? We don't know any of that is true!"

"It's a lot of speculation..." Nancy agreed.

"But it all makes sense." Frank insisted. "Just listen... I thought it was a long shot too, and then I asked myself: why Vanessa? Why not both her and Nancy, or just Nancy? The answer, surprisingly, is that these attacks have nothing to do with the Longs' company or their lie detector... or their money. They don't even have to do with anyone being a detective."

"Thanks for telling us what they're not- just get to what they _are_!" Joe interrupted in exasperation.

Frank shot his brother a look. "I was just getting there." he said. "The answer," -he paused triumphantly- "Is that someone wanted Vanessa to back off all right. But not off of the case. Off of _Chase._"

"What?" Joe asked.

"Kate!" Nancy exclaimed.

"Precisely." Frank nodded, giving his girlfriend a smile. "Kate. She's in love with Chase, or she's angry at him, maybe. But either way she doesn't want him with another girl."

"She was horrible to me from the beginning." Vanessa agreed, remembering how Kate had bumped into her and then sneered at her during their first meeting.

"So she tried to embarrass Vanessa by intentionally giving her a sweater with chloroform and calling the photographer to catch it on film..." Nancy picked up. "And then when Vanessa stayed around she got the photographer to follow her around and harass her, hoping Vanessa would get fed up and leave the city!"

"But when she didn't, Kate started trying to scare her away. The phone call, rigging the power outage... It was all to get Vanessa to leave Chase alone!" Joe finished, comprehension dawning in his eyes.

Frank folded his arms over his chest, looking extremely pleased with himself. "That's right." he said.

"You've done it again, Frank." Joe said with grudging admiration.

"You're five minutes late for dinner." Frank returned.

Joe glanced at his watch. "Shoot!" He glared at his brother. "If you could have shortened your speech just a little bit we could have been on time." He took Vanessa's hand and they both moved to the door.

"You can't rush perfection!" Frank called after them with a laugh.

"Yeah well we'll see if I bring _you_ a doggie bag." Joe shot back yanking open the door. "You coming, Nan?"

"Yes." Nancy answered, bending down to give Frank a quick kiss. "See you later..." she said to him. "And don't worry about Kate- we'll take care of her."

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A/N: As always, please leave me your thoughts on the chapter. All reviews are greatly appreciated. 


	16. One Last Confession

A/N: I'm doing my best with updates on this story. This just about wraps it up... I'm thinking one more chapter will do it. As always, please read and review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, or any characters affiliated with them, and I am certainly not making any profit from this story.

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"There she is."

The moment the trio walked into the banquet hall, Joe had immediately spotted their quarry. Kate Osbourne was already seated at the far end of the long table by none other than Chase Long, nodding fervently at whatever he was saying.

"She looks nervous." Vanessa commented, and it was true. Kate appeared to be very tense, talking little and sitting stiffly with her hands clenched in her lap. Under the table, her right foot tapped out a furious beat in the air. Her gaze wandered over to the three detectives. When she saw them watching her, she looked away quickly, and her foot started moving faster, if possible.

They found their placecards at the table and sat down, the girls on either side of Joe. "The nervous ones can go either way." Nancy said softly to her companions. "They break down and tell all, or they get defensive, maybe even dangerous."

"You think she'll make a run for it?" Vanessa asked.

"I doubt it." Joe said. "Where would she go?"

At that moment Peter and Chase took their places at the table and, after a short speech, dinner was served. The meal passed uneventfully and Kate toed the line under the detectives' watchful eyes. She didn't get up until dinner was over. As the plates were being cleared and the coffee being poured, Kate slipped away amid the bustle. Nancy, Joe, and Vanessa noticed immediately.

They quickly decided that all three of them pursuing at once would create a disturbance at the table, so Joe, being the one with car keys, elected to follow. Nancy and Vanessa promised to be right behind at any sign of trouble, and Joe made his way out of the hall inconspicuously.

Out in the corridor, he followed the sound of high heels around a corner, where, to his dismay, he saw Kate vanish into a women's restroom.

"Just great." Joe mumbled to himself, leaning against the wall. Why had they not thought that she might just need to use the bathroom? _Some detectives._ "Oh well. I can wait."

Several minutes passed with no sign of Kate, and Joe began to grow uneasy. Had Kate known he was following her and slipped out a window or something? He looked back toward the direction of the banquet hall, wondering if he should go back and get Nancy or Vanessa to go in after her... but he knew if he left his post she could slip out and be away before he got back. Besides, if Kate _was _still in there, she could be armed, and who knew what she would do if confronted by Vanessa, whom she was so jealous of...

Joe looked at the sign bearing the skirted stick figure on the door and hesitated. _Okay, if she's not out in ten seconds... nine... eight... seven...__Oh, forget it._ Rolling his eyes, he pushed the door open and strode into the bathroom.

Kate jumped back from the mirror in which she was applying lipstick. When she saw Joe, she screamed, loud and long.

Joe cringed, backing into the door that had closed behind him. "Sorry!" he apologized on reflex, before he realized that it was she who needed to be doing the apologizing. "Listen Kate-" he began.

But her screaming had already attracted attention, and Nancy and Vanessa were barging into the room as well, followed by a small crowd of people, including Chase Long.

Nancy and Vanessa sized up the situation, from the lipstick smears on Kate's face to the sheepish look on Joe's, and simply looked at each other, willing themselves not to laugh. Nancy turned to the crowd. "It's alright, there's nothing to see here." She said, ushering several curious partygoers out. Chase stayed, however, as did Joe and Vanessa. Nancy caught Kate's arm as she attempted to leave. "I don't think so, Kate."

Kate backed into a sink, looking as frightened as they'd ever seen her. Gone was her sharp and bitter personality, replaced by meekness. "Chase...?" she appealed to the only person in the room she knew beyond a single introduction.

Chase only shrugged, puzzled by her detainment. He waited for the detectives to explain.

"Kate, we know what you've done. You have to come clean." Nancy prompted, hoping that Kate was the break-down-tell-all nervous type rather than her gun-toting equivalent.

"Come clean?" Kate repeated blankly.

"The chloroform. The photographer. Locking Vanessa in that closet." Joe began, ticking off her offenses on his fingers.

Kate wiped her eyes quickly, before the tears could escape. "Yes! Alright. I did those things." she confessed, somehow managing to keep her voice steady. "Look, I'm sorry, it's just..." Her eyes turned to Chase and the admiration in them was clearly visible.

"Just what?" Chase asked softly.

Kate was crying openly now, her professional manner completely disintegrated. "I just wanted..."

Vanessa stepped forward and touched the girl's arm. "Kate, hurting someone Chase cares about is not the way to get him to notice you."

Kate sniffed indignantly. "I wasn't trying to hurt you!" she returned. "I just wanted you to, just, go back where you came from! I never hurt anybody!"

"You were lucky you didn't." Joe said gravely. "You could have been in big trouble with the law. If the police trace that energy saving device back to you you could get blamed for that fire-"

"I didn't!" Kate protested, distraught. "I never set that to... It shouldn't have started... that fire wasn't me!" She turned to a surprised Chase. "You've got to believe me, it wasn't me!"

Chase looked at her in horror, putting the pieces together in his mind. "Oh, Kate, you didn't. We've had so much to deal with these past few weeks, without you trying to get rid of my girlfriend! ...Who was never really even my girlfriend." he amended.

"What?" Kate moaned. "Please, Chase, I'm so sorry. I just thought that maybe things could work out differently between us... and then she was there, and I thought..."

"Look Kate," Chase began, looking slightly uncomfortable about having such a personal talk in front of Joe, Nancy, and Vanessa. "We broke up, remember? And I think we both know it was for the best. We-"

"I didn't know it was for the best!" Kate nearly screamed. "You decided for both of us! And I wasn't ready!" Her tone softened to a pleading, "I love you."

"Kate..." Chase sighed, clearly not returning the sentiment. "Kate, maybe it could have worked out some other time, but not now. Definitely not now."

Vanessa cleared her throat to break the silence. "I'm not going to press charges, Kate, but I think you might need help. Maybe a psychiatrist would..." she trailed off as it became apparent that Kate wasn't listening.

"Chase..." she whispered, the rejection finally hitting her. With one last look she pushed between Vanessa and Joe and out the door.

Nancy looked after her, clearly feeling a lack of closure to the case. "What are we going to do about Kate?" she asked, slightly confused.

Joe was wearing the same expression. "We can't just let her off the hook, can we? She could be dangerous! If not now, later."

Chase looked troubled, but waved their worries off. "Don't worry guys. Our company gives health benefits- we'll make sure she gets the help she needs."

"She's working for you now?" Joe asked, surprised.

"Yeah, we offered her a job earlier in research and development and she accepted." Chase said distractedly. He looked around at his friends. "You know, she's not always like this. She's not... crazy. She's just passionate... She's not a bad person."

"It's all right." Nancy said. "We know." She took Joe's arm and led him out of the restroom, much to his relief.

Vanessa and Chase stayed behind.

"You did the right thing." Vanessa said reassuringly, placing a warm hand on his shoulder.

Chase sighed. "I know, but... I feel like I did that to Kate. I guess on some level I knew she was behind those things when I offered her the job. I don't love her, but I did once. And I respect her, or I did."

"It's okay to be worried about her." Vanessa said. "But you know that none of this is your fault. Maybe Kate's not the one for you... maybe she is." She squeezed his hand and flashed an encouraging smile. "You'll find out soon enough."

Chase cocked a friendly eyebrow at her. "You think?"

"I do." she answered in the same tone. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

Chase watched as she yanked the door open and moved into Joe's waiting arms. It wasn't until she turned to look back at him that he followed.

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A/N: Sorry it's short, but I hope you liked it anyhow. Please review! 


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